


With Arms Wide Open: Time Scroll

by WinchesterWarrenSon



Category: Dragon Ball
Genre: Abusive Relationships, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Slavery, Disabled Character, Emotional Manipulation, Emotional/Psychological Abuse, F/M, Multiverse, Other, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Stockholm Syndrome, Xenoverse
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-07-05
Updated: 2017-03-07
Packaged: 2018-04-07 16:55:37
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 21
Words: 66,279
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4270854
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WinchesterWarrenSon/pseuds/WinchesterWarrenSon
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Side story to "With Arms Wide Open." Future Trunks makes the wish on the Dragon to bring the strongest fighter in the known universes to fight alongside him. Demon Queen Son Tenshi, a Namekian hybrid, is teleported in the nick of time to avoid her assured destruction in her own timeline. Despite her physical disabilities, she is what Trunks ordered. But her background and her timeline mean that she and Trunks have to work together to unload the baggage she's carrying, or they won't be able to work together and defeat Demigra at all.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Shenron the Eternal Dragon

**Author's Note:**

> This chapter has a lot of death, destruction, and graphic violence. Enjoy.

The threat arrived before they could even think to prepare, but not because it had no ki signal. No, it had moved too fast, arrived too quickly. It was there before they could evacuate the city area, and despite the long years of training, despite being the strongest warrior Tenshi knew of, after her father, she was not prepared and not strong enough. 

She and Pan had started to help the weaker civilians to evacuate the area, but Tenshi quickly abandoned that entirely. She had thought that Pan was right behind her, but she looked over her shoulder and saw that Pan was still trying to save civilians and slaves alike. Tenshi's anger flared up - why couldn't she ever think of herself for once!? - but that anger toward Pan came to an abrupt halt as the behemoth that was destroying the city reached Pan. 

Pan tried to fight, but it was too strong and powerful, glowing bright yellow and emitting so much power it was terrifying. It grabbed Pan's leg, then her throat, and it pulled in two directions - Tenshi had to turn her head away and fly away at full speed. 

She found what hopefully would be an untouched area of the city for now, then touched down on the ground. She was starting to pant heavily, which wasn't good. She was over-exerting herself, and she couldn't afford to do that if she had to _fight_ that monster. 

She was running towards the city limits, starting to wonder where her father and daddy were. She pulled on her air tank's gauge. She mentally cursed what it told her. Of all the times to need an oxygen refill - ! She couldn't slow down, not at the rate that that _thing_ was destroying and killing everything and everyone, but if she didn't, she'd run out of air and then she'd _die anyway_. This wasn't looking good at all - ! 

Relief and hope came over her as she spotted her father. 

Demon King Piccolo (the Second) sped over to her, slowing down just enough to grab her and carry her back where he came from. 

"Father, what is that thing?" Tenshi gasped out, her air gauge still held tightly in her hand. She was afraid of letting it go and not knowing how much she had left. 

Piccolo kept his eyes on where they were going. They could hear the screaming of the monster - "KAAAAKAAAAROOOOOTTTTTT!" - getting closer behind him. 

"We'll talk about that later, let's just get Gohan and leave!" 

Tenshi had no complaints over that, though she wondered if that meant that Videl was already dead. Tears formed in Tenshi's eyes, it sinking in that she would never see Pan again. 

She could hear the gigantic _boom_ of the destruction of the palace, but she couldn't bring herself to care about the loss of her home. She just wanted to live and for her family to get out alive. 

"Where is Dad?" Tenshi asked, looking nervously at her air tank gauge. 

Piccolo didn't say anything, but they made a very sharp turn. 

And there Dad was, his white harem pants and yellow sash around his waist stained with blood. Blood also stained the white gold bangles clamped tight around his wrists. He was carrying Videl on his back, and Tenshi was torn between the relief that she was still alive and the knowledge that she'd have to tell her of her daughter dying. 

Videl's blood was dribbling down Gohan's front from over his shoulder, staining his red vest and rolling down his bare chest. 

Gohan maneuvered to fly alongside Piccolo. 

"Are you okay!?" Gohan asked. 

"I'm fine!" Piccolo said. 

"The air tank's running low!" Tenshi said. 

"Fuck - !" Gohan might've wanted to say more, but the energy blast Piccolo took to the back cut him off, and Piccolo and Tenshi hit the ground hard, Tenshi getting thrown a few feet away from her father. 

She could feel the cement and rubble and rock cutting into her skin, and her own expletive echoed throughout the ruins of the city. _Now_ she was going to bleed out due to being unable to clot. Great. Just great. 

She opened her eyes through the pain, then her eyes widened as she watched the monster grab Piccolo and rip him right in half, a rain of purple blood falling down and staining the ground. Tenshi's mouth fell open, and the rush of emotion going through her was almost indescribable. 

"FATHER!" Tenshi yelled. 

" _PICCOLO!_!"

Gohan screamed. Videl, unconscious, slid off of Gohan's back as he made an abrupt directional change. Tenshi watched as she fell to the ground unceremoniously and didn't make a sound as she hit the ground with a _thud_. She didn't know if Gohan hadn't taken better care of her because he was so overwhelmed by anger and pain over Piccolo or if she had actually been dead and he hadn't been able to bear to leave her behind. 

Gohan flew at the monster, his own hair flashing yellow for the first time Tenshi had ever seen. Terror was gripping her. Why was her daddy transforming into something that looked like that brute - ? 

But the question died in her brain as she watched this monstrously-sized destructive force slam its fist into her daddy, knocking the transformation out of him. Gohan's eyes unfocused and blood flew out of his mouth. He didn't hit the ground, though. The monster grabbed Gohan with his giant hand and pulled him up to look at him more closely. The monster grabbed at one of Gohan's nipple piercings - items that Tenshi had never known Gohan to not wear, even when going into battle, had tried to play with when she was younger and found the rubies tauntingly pretty - and ripped it off. 

It started as a gagging noise, but soon Gohan was screaming in pain. The monster discarded the piercing, then took its other hand and clasped it around Gohan's throat and head. 

Tenshi couldn't look away like she could with Pan. The sounds of her daddy's head getting crushed would echo in her head for the rest of her life. 

"G-GOHAN - !" Tenshi heard Piccolo yell. Tenshi just barely remembered that her father had regenerative abilities that she did not have, as long as his head was intact. His body being ripped in half wasn't going to stop him from living. 

That didn't make her feel better. 

It only told her that she was still going to be watching her parents die, and that it would just take longer for Father. 

Videl still wasn't moving, and Tenshi watched as Daddy's blood oozed out between of the monster's fingers. It might not have just been blood, but Tenshi was too in shock to register the details. 

The monster threw Gohan to the ground, and Tenshi couldn't bring herself to watch where he landed. The monster approached her. Piccolo shot an energy blast at him that had no effect. 

"LEAVE HER ALONE YOU FUCKING ANIMAL!"

Tenshi thought she was going to die. 

A bright light obscured her vision, and when it died away, she collapsed onto fresh grass and nothing looked the same. 

"Oh my God! HEALER, I NEED A HEALER!" yelled an unfamiliar voice. 

Nothing around her was familiar. Nothing was bloody or destroyed. It looked so peaceful here. 

A young man's arms took her into them, and she moved her head to look at who was holding her. 

He looked human, with hair that reminded her of Dr. Bulma Briefs. 

"You're going to be okay. My name is Trunks, and you're in TokiToki City. We have healers who can get you better, so hold on." 

He sounded so urgent but soft and kind. 

"Am . . . am I dead?" Tenshi asked slowly, the sound of Daddy's skull getting crushed still echoing in her ears. 

"No, you're not dead. And we're going to make sure you stay that way, okay?" 

She nodded slowly, but she still wasn't sure what was happening. 

What was TokiToki?


	2. The Time Patrol

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have Xenoverse and have created Tenshi for Xenoverse. I still haven't figured out how to do the chat and interacting with other players ended up being very stressful, but if you're able, if you see Son Tenshi running around, feel free to share screenshots/recordings with me and share the fics I've written with people w/ said stuff. (I'm not able to do any of that fancy tech stuff lol.)

_Tenshi lay in her bed, getting tucked in by Gohan. She was staring at the collar around Daddy's neck, the white gold and rubies forever an appealing thing to look at. The rubies on Daddy's nipple-piercings were no exception, but she had been told off for trying to play with them and pull at them more than once by this point, so she tried not to tempt herself by staring at them. (It wasn't **her** fault they were pretty.) _

_"Daddy, I don't think I've ever seen you not wear your jewelry."_

_Gohan smiled at her and brought his hand up to gently touch the top of her head._

_"That's because I never take them off."_

_"How come?"_

_She was just a little girl and hadn't been aware enough of her own surroundings to quite get what was happening._

_Gohan touched his collar with the other hand, fingertips ghosting over the ruby right in the middle._

_"Because it shows how much I love your father."_

_Tenshi tilted her head a little against the pillow._

_"It does?"_

_Gohan nodded._

_"When I got this and these," he touched the bangles around his wrists, "I proved my utmost loyalty to him."_

_"And those?" She pointed at the nipple piercings._

_Gohan laughed a little._

_"These are from when I started sharing your father's bed. They mean that no one else can have me in theirs."_

_"Except for when you're tucking me in, right?"_

_Gohan laughed a bit more._

_"Of course."_

_He kissed the top of her head._

Tenshi awoke, the sound of the kiss touching her forehead making an abrupt shift into sounding like bone crushing. 

She looked around and saw that it was all in her head, either way.

She touched her face, her fingers touching on the face mask. She lifted herself up and checked her air tank. Full of oxygen. Someone had given her a refill. 

Shifting nearby startled her, and she whipped her head around to look around the room. 

The man who had been by her side when she passed out was asleep in the chair near the bed she lay in. His hair fell into his face, and she was able to focus on him a bit more. He looked startlingly like Dr. Briefs. The only thing that didn't look much like her was the eye shape and the exact structure of his jaw, but otherwise, he looked like he was very closely related to her. Which was odd, because Tenshi could have sworn that Dr. Briefs's family only comprised of her and her parents. No children or brothers or sisters or nieces and nephews. So who could he be . . . ? 

She moved to get out of the bed, but she heard the trill of a bird nearby and almost jumped out of her skin. 

She didn't like birds very much. 

The bird woke the man up with a similar jolt, and he stared right at Tenshi for a few moments, trying to catch up with his surroundings as well. 

He smiled at her when he realized what was happening and where he was. 

"Hello! How are you feeling? I knew you'd be confused and disoriented when you arrived here, but that was quite the shock for everybody, I think.... Um. I'm Trunks, the Head Time Patroller! And you are . . . ?" 

Tenshi stared at him as he spoke, picking up on his nervousness. She furrowed her eyebrows, not knowing who he was, but noticing that he lacked the collar and bangles she was accustomed to seeing on people who looked like him. (He was human, right?) 

She stood up, reaching her full height, shoulders back. Trunks stared up at her, still sitting in the chair. She towered over him significantly. 

"I am the Demon Queen, Son Tenshi, of the Chow Castle region." 

She crossed her arms, staring down at the man who looked so much smaller now in comparison, waiting for the proper reaction. 

Trunks continued to stare at her, then he scrambled to his feet. She was still twice his height.

"It's, uh, nice to meet you," Trunks said. Tenshi raised an eyebrow at him, and she could see him visibly starting to sweat. 

"Where are we?" she asked, starting to wonder if they had any royalty at all where they were. 

"We're in the City of TokiToki! It's located in Otherworld, where the Kais live. The Kais are the Gods - or some of them at least - and Supreme Kai of Time rules the City of TokiToki. I work for her, and we had asked the Dragon to bring us the strongest warrior in all the universes to come help us in our mission to protect the time-space continuum." 

Oh, he worked for a god.... Still, he could have at least bowed when she enlightened him on who she was. 

Though she rather liked the whole 'strongest warrior in all the universes' bit. 

"What makes you think I want to help you?" Tenshi said, knowing better than to just blindly agree to anything. And she knew how to play the game to get something out of it, even if she didn't have any other options. 

She didn't seem to have stumped him, however. 

He smiled encouragingly at her. 

"Well, I'm hoping to convince you. I'll show you around TokiToki, we can go on a small mission together, and then we can talk about it. You'll also get to meet the Supreme Kai of Time as well.... At . . . some point. . . ." 

Tenshi mulled it over for a minute. 

"I also understand if you're tired and would like to wait a while for all of that. I hadn't expected to have . . . caught you at a bad time. . . ." he said. 

The image of Father being ripped in half was burned into her retinas. 

Her defensiveness and hard exterior was starting to wane. She didn't think that was good. 

"If this is . . . the place where time is . . . monitored . . . does that mean there's a way to find out what that monster was where I came from?" 

Trunks nodded. 

"Yes, there is. We can look at the Time Scroll. We can do that now, if you'd like, and I can show you around TokiToki on the way." 

Tenshi nodded. 

"Lead the way, then." 

It took a little while to get to where the time schools were kept. They stopped at a few places, Trunks pointing out the different shops for new clothes, items needed for time patrol missions, and a tournament area where they all fought against each other to hone their skills. It seemed that everyone working in TokiToki lived in TokiToki and would be staying there a long time. 

Tenshi wasn't sure she wanted to stay . . . but she doubted she could go back home. 

"And this is where what we call Parallel Quests happen. They are scenarios where timelines got fragmented, and in order to keep these timeline fragments in check and from turning into complete timelines on their own, we go in and intervene." 

"Timeline fragments?" Tenshi asked, seeking for clarification. "How can time have a fragment?" 

"Well, all timelines are based off of a main timeline. The main timeline is essentially the start of all Creation, and all the other timelines stem from it. But there are some timelines that are supposed to branch off and become their own timelines, and there are others that are not. But they keep trying to grow and grow, and it's our responsibility to make sure those timelines don't get out of control and mess with the main timeline and somehow ruin things. Time can be pretty unpredictable sometimes." 

"And what's the main timeline?" 

"I can show you when we get to the Hall. It'll be a bit easier that way." 

They continued to walk to where the time scrolls were kept. As they stepped through a portal, they arrived in the proper courtyard and continued to walk towards a big palace-looking building. 

Tenshi liked her old palace better. 

"So, uh," Trunks said as they walked and were now completely alone. "You said you were a queen?"

"Yes," Tenshi said. "And I'm _very_ used to hearing 'Your Highness' after everything everyone says." 

It was a very clear hint. 

"Eh heh heh.... Um, sorry about that, uh, y-Your Highness. I . . . I'm only asking to make sure I understand properly. Queen means that you're a girl, right?" 

He looked over at her, and she could very much feel him looking her up and down and taking in her appearance. Tenshi adjusted her diadem. 

"It does," she said, choosing to let the irritation she felt go. 

"Ah, okay," Trunks said. "Just checking. I wasn't aware that Namekians could be girls." 

Tenshi stopped in her tracks and gave him a look. 

"The fuck's a Namekian?" she asked, dropping the mildly arrogant tone she had been using earlier as a slight intimidation tactic. She needed to be the one in charge here, after all. 

Trunks stopped walking and turned to face her more. He was looked at her rather confused. 

"Your . . . your species. Your species is an alien race known as the Namekian. They come from Planet Namek...." 

"No, I'm a _demon_. Like Father." 

"Demon . . . ? No, demons look like - well, there are examples in the time scrolls, we can look at both Namekians and demons in there. You're definitely a Namekian." 

Tenshi frowned hard. 

"Er, Your Highness...." Trunks added to soften what he said, but it wasn't working. 

"This place is starting to smell like _bullshit_ , Trunks. _If that's your real name._ " 

Trunks raised an eyebrow at her as she walked quickly past him towards the Time Vault. She was weird.... 

In the Time Vault, Trunks introduced Tenshi to the main timeline, explaining how all of the timelines had the same group of people in common, but that they sometimes were related to each other differently than before. But in the main timeline, everything was in its original, base scenario. 

Tenshi frowned while looking at it. 

"Where am I?" 

Trunks took a moment to process the question, then he turned his head to look at her. 

"You're, uh, not in the original, base scenario. Both of us are from alternate timelines." 

"But you're in this one." 

"I traveled to that one from my branch timeline." 

". . . Your branch timeline . . . happened _before_ the main one?" 

"Well, not really, but it . . . it's complicated. Somehow mine was created so I could exist for the main timeline...." 

". . . That's bullshit." 

Trunks frowned a little, blushing a bit. 

"I don't understand it as well as I wish I did, but that's just how it works." 

"Whatever. So where's mine?" 

Trunks was starting to worry that he wasn't going to like working with her. But he tried to give her the benefit of the doubt. 

"Let's see...." 

They ended up spending a long time in the Time Vault, trying to find the right scroll. There were far, far too many scrolls, and they both ended up tired and fed up with it after hours upon hours of searching. 

"I don't understand.... Usually we're able to find them pretty easily." Trunks said. "Maybe Supreme Kai of Time can help find it...." 

"Aren't there servants for this menial shit?" 

"N-no.... I guess you could say we're the servant-" 

He didn't get to finish that sentence. 

Tenshi stood up from where they were sitting on the floor, resting. 

"I am neither servant nor slave, and I will not be treated as such!" Tenshi protested. 

Trunks put his hands up in surrender, and Tenshi stared down at him, then deflated a little. She sat back down and hung her head, legs outstretched so they wouldn't fall asleep. Trunks lowered his hands. 

". . . I just want to know what that monster was.... And if my father somehow survived...." 

Trunks frowned a little, nodding in understanding. 

"We'll find out, I promise we will. In the meantime . . . you can help with the Time Patrol. Help us out while we help you. Sound like a deal?" 

Tenshi looked over at him and saw that he was holding his hand out to be shaken. Tenshi hesitated for a moment. While she was not opposed to touching him or being touched by him, handshakes were for business deals, and business deals were not done with . . . . Though she supposed he wasn't one, considering the collar and bangles were absent. 

There was only one way to know for sure. 

"Are you owned by anyone?" she asked. 

Tenshi counted four times he blinked as the silence stretched on. 

"What?" he asked. 

"Are you owned by anyone?" she repeated. "Like, do you work for anyone and are entirely reliant on them for permission to do anything?" 

He furrowed his eyebrows and had a very troubled expression on his face. 

"No, of course not.... Why would I be?" 

Tenshi neglected to answer the question as she shook his hand. 

"You have a deal then. I'll work for the Time Patrol while you help me find out what happened in my timeline." 

He gave her hand a firm shake, then let go. 

"Good, then.... We can start whenever you're ready on a mission." 

Right then, a scroll started to glow a dark purple. It flew to Trunks's hand, and he held it up. 

"Speaking of which. . . . Wanna take a go at it right now?" 

Tenshi reached for the scroll. 

"Sure. What could go wrong?" 

She squeezed the scroll tightly. 

She soon saw just how unprepared she was for witnessing the beginnings of a timeline alteration from the main timeline. Or rather, how unprepared she was for witnessing was the main timeline was like.


	3. Radditz's Invasion

Before she took off, Trunks handed her something he called a scouter. It was green, but she hoped she'd be able to trade it in for a purple or pink one. She looked better in those colors. 

She could hear his voice as she entered the timeline she had to get involved with. 

"Make sure only Son Goku and Radditz are the ones who die. If anyone else looks like they're going to be in danger of being killed, get involved. It has to be Piccolo who kills Radditz. Good luck." 

Tenshi furrowed her eyebrows, but the bright light that surrounded her as she was being teleported died down, and she soon found herself in the thick of the battle. 

A small boy catapulted himself towards a big man with bushy, long hair with no pants on but a weird armored outfit she had never seen the likes of before. The big man dodged it, then aimed a blast for the small boy. 

Tenshi jumped in and saved the child, much to the relief of the man laying on the ground and - 

Father!? 

Tenshi's eyes widened as she recognized him, though he was much younger and was lacking the age lines he had acquired later in life. That was definitely her father, Piccolo. He was even wearing the same martial art gi that he always wore. 

But then, where was her daddy? Was he here? 

"Someone you know, Goku?" Piccolo asked. 

"Heh. I was gonna ask you that," Goku said, picking himself up off the ground. 

Tenshi lay the child down onto the ground, gently, then stood up and turned towards Piccolo, Goku, and the big man with no pants. 

She didn't know what was going on, but Trunks's instructions were clear, and following his lead sounded like the best course of action right now. 

She stayed silent as she fought alongside them, and judging from Trunks's commentary and instructions, she was doing as she was supposed to as a Time Patroller. 

Father took out both Radditz and Son Goku, and Tenshi felt herself get teleported back. In the scouter, she heard Trunks's voice. 

"Good work!" 

Tenshi couldn't help herself. She started to reach out to Piccolo, but she teleported before she could make any additional contact. 

"What was that?" she heard Father say. 

She reappeared in the Time Vault, and Trunks was excited and smiling. 

"You were wonderful! I wouldn't have thought it was your first time!" 

Tenshi wasn't in the mood for praise and smiles, though. 

"Who were they? Why was my father there?" she asked abruptly. 

The smile slid off Trunks's face, and she could see he wasn't quite sure what she meant. 

"You mean . . . who are Piccolo, Goku, Radditz, and Gohan?" 

"I _know_ who Piccolo is.... Wait, Gohan? Gohan wasn't there...." 

"Y-yes, he was. He was the small child." 

"That's not possible!" 

That couldn't have been Daddy! Daddy wouldn't have been a little boy when Father was all grown up! 

Trunks raised his hands to show he wasn't intending to upset her and he hoped it would calm her down. He was doing his best to help her, and he truly did want to help. He wanted them to get along, he wanted her to be a Time Patroller like him and the others. (And while he wasn't focusing on it, he did find her kind of cute, if rather intimidating. Just for that reason alone and the fact that she was the warrior Shenron had delivered, he wanted her to at least want to be work partners with him, if not friends.) 

"In the main timeline, Gohan is Son Goku's son, and he is taken in by Piccolo during the year between Radditz's invasion and the arrival of the Saiyans known as Nappa and Vegeta. Piccolo, despite being eight years old, is Goku's adult rival. While I'm not all that familiar with Namekian growth and biology, I do know that they grow rapidly in extreme environments to insure their survival and ability to look after themselves. Piccolo's life wasn't easy in his early years or . . . ever, now that I think about it.... So that caused him to develop an adult body at a much earlier age than, say, you probably did or than Dende and the other Namekians on the planet Namek. On Planet Namek, the Namekians took great care to raise their children in peaceful environments for better psychological health.... Do you know Piccolo and Gohan in your timeline?" 

Tenshi was having a hard time keeping it together now. Despite knowing that that wasn't her real father from her timeline, seeing him alive and unhurt was overwhelming, and so much was happening all at once. 

Her eyes were welling up with tears, and she cursed her tear ducts but couldn't stop them. 

"They're - they're my Father and Daddy. P-Piccolo and G-Gohan are - are - " 

Trunks had no idea what to do when Tenshi started to cry. She moved her hand to wipe her tears away, eyes squeezing shut. 

"They're my parents, and they're _fucking dead_ \- !" 

Her shoulders slumped and she hid her face in her hand, body shaking with sorrow. Trunks hesitated to approach her, not knowing her well enough to know if he should reach out or not. 

"That - that _monster_ killed _everyone_ \- !" 

And that was all she was able to get out through her sobs. She knelt down and hunched over, hiding her face and curling into a ball, crying. 

Trunks slowly closed the distance between them, knelt down, and pulled her into a hug. Despite not knowing him very well, Tenshi allowed him to embrace her and pulled him closer to her, accepting the comfort. 

"I'm sorry that happened...." Trunks said. In his thoughts, he mused that she was more like him than he realized. She didn't have anyone anymore either.... 

They stayed there in the Time Vault until Tenshi stopped crying, and Trunks didn't let go until she pushed him away slightly and followed that up with moving away. She avoided looking at him, a purple blush decorating her cheeks and ears. How embarrassing.... Demon Queens did _not_ break down into tears in front of strangers.... 

Trunks let her keep her dignity. 

"Ten - uh, Your Highness, would you like to get used to our surroundings more? I'm going to continue looking for your timeline. I'm starting to think it'll make doing our job as Time Patrollers more easier if we can tell just how much your timeline differs from the main timeline. That way, we'll both know what to expect from each other and how to fix the time anomalies." He wouldn't always be able to give instructions via the scouter, and she seemed to be prideful and desiring as much independence as possible. 

Tenshi took a deep breath, then nodded, adjusting her posture so that she was standing as tall and proud as before. 

"That sounds like a good plan. I'll come find you when I get bored," Tenshi said, then proceeded to walk out of the Time Vault. 

Trunks watched her leave, eyes landing on the air tank she wore on her back. He truly never would have expected that she'd have trouble breathing from only watching her fight.... But he had watched as she was running out of air while she was still passed out. She really couldn't breathe without it, and he was in awe of the strength she had to have pushed herself this far. He was curious as to how she had achieved such power in such a physical state.... Then he wondered if that was a rude thing to wonder. 

Oh well. If he could find her timeline's scroll, they'd have all the answers in the world about her and her family and her world. 

He was intrigued, to say the least.


	4. Piccolo's Revenge

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Info about outhouses present in this chapter is what I learned from my job at the antebellum historical preservation site.

When Tenshi approached Trunks again, it wasn't that she was bored or that she was even really wanting to see if he was done (though she did want him to have found the scroll). No, she had another problem. 

She was blushing rather hard as she walked up to him. 

"Um...." 

Trunks looked up from what he was searching in to look at her. 

"Hey! I think I'm getting closer to finding it. I only just thought to look in this box because - " 

"Where's the outhouse?" 

Trunks paused for a long, long moment. 

"The what?" 

" _Outhouse_ ," Tenshi repeated, her blush darkening and her teeth gritted, as though if she said it as disgruntled and quietly as possible it would be less embarrassing. 

"We, uh, we don't have one. We have the bathroom, though. Y'know, indoor plumbing?" 

Tenshi furrowed her eyebrows. 

"Indoor - ? Why would a place with a bunch of apes around have an indoor outhouse?" 

Trunks furrowed his eyebrows and frowned. Apes . . . ? Well, yes, technically both humans and Saiyans and a few other alien species could be considered part of the species known as apes, but the way that she said the word clued him in that it wasn't really meant to be a word indicating that she saw the world in species designations.... No, it sounded much more like she was used to using the word as some kind of insult. 

It was making him uncomfortable. But he took a deep breath. 

"C'mon, I'll show you." 

He led her to the bathroom, then showed her how the toilet worked. 

"You do what you need to do in the bowl here, then you push the level, and then it all goes down through the pipes. Just be careful not to put too much toilet paper in it, or it'll get clogged and we'll have to fix it." 

"Whoa.... But where does it go?" 

"The pipes take it away to where all the waste that we have goes. Someone elsewhere in Otherworld takes care of it." 

"Huh...."

She then blushed again, then gave Trunks a pointed look. Trunks took a moment to realize what she was getting at. 

"Oh! Right! Sorry! I'll leave you to it!" 

Trunks then hurried back to the Time Vault. 

Tenshi took a while to figure out what the toilet paper was even supposed to be for. She took a small wad of it and dried herself off, then washed her hands. She had no idea why anyone would use too much, you just needed a little bit to wipe your dick - oh, right, other species poop. Riiiiight. 

When she got back to Trunks afterwards, she remarked, "The toilet paper isn't as soft as Lamb's Ear." 

"Hm?" Trunks continued to search for the scroll. 

"Lamb's Ear. It's a really soft plant. Father made sure Daddy, Videl, and Pan had lots of them available around the outhouse so they could wipe their asses." 

Trunks paused, then looked back up at her. 

"Wait, you don't have toilet paper in your timeline either?" 

She shook her head. 

"No indoor plumbing or toilet paper.... What about air conditioning?"

"We didn't personally, but Dr. Briefs did at her house. We'd just go over there when it got too hot." 

"By Dr. Briefs, do you mean . . . ?" 

"I mean Bulma." 

Trunks smiled a little. "Hey, that's my mom! Does she have children in your timeline?" 

"Nope. She never struck me as liking kids, and I never saw her with a boyfriend or anything." 

"Ah. Ever heard of anyone called Vegeta?" 

"Nope." 

"That's probably why then." 

"Hm?" 

"Vegeta is a Saiyan, and he's my father. They met when he came back to Planet Earth after he and Goku destroyed Lord Frieza." At Tenshi's lack of recognition, he explained. "Lord Frieza is an intergalactic warlord. He had meant to wipe all the Saiyans out, but he missed Goku and had raised my father as a part of his army. Father rebelled and joined forces with Goku on Planet Namek. Your parents were there, too." 

Tenshi's eyes widened. "Wait, you're half alien? You don't look any different from a human." 

Trunks rubbed the back of his neck. "Saiyans are born with tails, but mine was cut off at a young age to prevent me from ever transforming into a giant, destructive ape. There's also some genetic advantages, like getting stronger every time I almost die, a Saiyan heart has the ability to restart itself a few times, and the ability to go Super Saiyan. They make great warriors, and Frieza feared them. That's why he made them endangered." 

Tenshi rolled that information around in her head for a while, thinking about what that meant. 

"So . . . if Goku is a Saiyan, that means Daddy was a half-Saiyan.... And that makes me a fourth human, a fourth Saiyan, and half . . . ." 

"Namekian. Oh! That's right, I was going to show you...." 

Trunks pulled out a book and opened it. He turned to the proper pages. 

"Demons look like this," he said, pointing to a picture. It read "Dabora" underneath the picture. "And like this." There were a few other pictures, but while they were diverse-looking, none of them looked like Tenshi in the slightest. "Now, Namekians," Trunks turned to the right page and showed it to her, "look like this." 

Tenshi's eyes widened. They looked almost exactly like her. Hell, that was a picture of Nail and Dende.... There was some diversity among them with facial features and sizes, but they all had the same skin color and antennae. 

Her hands tightened into fists. 

"Then why . . . why am I the _Demon_ Queen?" Tenshi asked. 

Trunks closed the book and put it away. 

"We can look into that, too.... My guess would be that your father had no idea what he was and that people were cruel to him when he was a child. He probably just assumed he must've been one because that's what he was called by others. Just like Goku assumed he was human because that's what everyone said, even though he had a tail and no one else did." 

Tenshi filed that information away to analyze later. 

"Any luck with finding the scroll?" she asked. 

Trunks bent back over the box. 

"I still think I'm closer to finding it. This box here is where all of the time scrolls are from the time fragments that we failed to contain on time. I thought it was weird that we couldn't find it in the main area of the Time Vault, but this would make sense, if it was squirreled away to be contained and not taint the other time scrolls." 

He pulled a scroll out and looked it over, then his face broke out into a smile. 

"Here it is!" 

He opened it up, then his smile fell away. 

"Wait.... No, it can't be, I'm in this." 

Tenshi walked around the box to stand over his shoulder. Her eyes widened as she watched a younger version of herself running around with a younger Trunks and a little boy she had never seen before. They were playing in Bulma's house - she recognized it, though it looked a bit different. There were other people in the house, Bulma's parents and a man with really tall hair, and her parents and an older woman with dark hair in a bun. Her younger self still wore the air tank. Daddy looked younger than she had ever seen him.

"There's another timeline with me in it?" she asked. 

"It must be," Trunks said, putting it aside so he couldn't mix it up with Tenshi's actual scroll. 

He continued searching, and Tenshi started to help him. Together, they found it and pulled it out of the box. 

"It looks like there's just two timelines with you in it. Which is very strange, because they look so different." 

Tenshi nodded. The two scrolls did look very different. Tenshi's was longer and completed while the other one was slowly becoming bigger. As though the scroll was being written as they spoke. They were also different colors, Tenshi's being an angry orange while the other one was a cheerful purple. 

Both Trunks and Tenshi held onto the orange scroll. 

"All right. Do you want to go visit your timeline's past now? Or wait?" 

Tenshi made eye contact with Trunks. 

"We're going now. At what point are we going to visit?" 

"We're going to the moment your timeline diverged from the main timeline. And we'll see as much of that as possible." 

Tenshi nodded. "Then let's go." 

They both closed their eyes and let the time scroll's energy overcome them. 

They were transported to the timeline, then they immediately looked around, got their bearings regarding their surroundings, then found a place to stay out of sight. They weren't fixing anything, just watching. 

"That's Son Goku's house," Trunks whispered. 

The front door opened, and the small child Tenshi had rescued on her time patrol mission came out of the house. Gohan. That was . . . her daddy. As a . . . toddler. It felt so weird to see him so little.... A woman was following after him, carrying a laundry basket.

"You can play, Gohan, but don't go too far," the woman said. 

"Yes, Mom!" Gohan said, cheerful and wandered a ways away from her but still within sight. 

"That's your grandmother, Chichi, daughter of the Ox King," Trunks explained under his breath. 

"Huh? Grandma's a princess?" Tenshi asked, also whispering. She really hadn't known that.... So . . . Daddy was royalty too? But . . . wait.... 

Her head was hurting. She adjusted her diadem. 

Trunks didn't respond, but both of them were watching rather intently on what was happening. 

They both were startled when they heard rustling of leaves and branches super close to them, and they worked hard to stay undetected. Just through the shrubbery, Tenshi and Trunks could see that Piccolo was standing very, very close to them. Tenshi really, truly had never seen him so young. He looked even greener than when she last saw him on her time patrol. His white cape even looked like it was too big for him. 

He was glaring at Gohan and Chichi, but his mouth was slowly curving up into a smirk. 

Gohan's cheerful giggling was getting closer. Tenshi slowly turned her head and saw that he was coming closer to them. Trunks covered his mouth, though Tenshi could still slightly hear a worried noise he was trying to keep inside. That wasn't good, if she could hear it, Father definitely could. 

Piccolo's ears twitched, and he turned his head, but he didn't look down or search the sound out. He ignored it after that. Tenshi would have sighed in relief, but that would've just drawn attention to them. Demon - or, rather, Namekian - hearing was genuinely too good. 

Gohan was just far away enough that he was able to enter the woods and miss Tenshi and Trunks entirely, just brushing past where Piccolo stood. He was so short and the wooden area so thick that Piccolo went entirely unnoticed. 

Chichi was doing the laundry, not realizing Gohan had gone out of sight. 

Piccolo stepped out of the woods and approached Chichi. 

"Gohan - ?" Chichi said, turning around and coming face-to-face with the Namekian's chest. She looked up, then jumped back, going into a martial art stance. Tenshi's eyes widened. She was a martial artist, too? "You! What're you doing here!?" 

Piccolo smirked at her. "Why else? Revenge." 

Chichi's eyes widened, and her thoughts went to the right place, but didn't make quite the right conclusion. 

"Where's Gohan!? What have you done with him!?" 

Piccolo chuckled. 

"Funny. He's going to be asking me that about you." 

Chichi didn't have time to wonder what he meant by that. He attacked her, and they fought, fists and kicks and blocks flying through the air, but by the end of it, Piccolo rendered her unconscious. He grabbed Chichi by the back of her dress, then drug her across the clearing to another area of the wood, then dropped her and covered her with some plant life. 

Tenshi and Trunks watched with baited breath, neither of them quite sure what his angle was or what he was trying to accomplish. Tenshi could feel Trunks's muscles twitching, as though he was so used to saving people and protecting them that it was genuinely difficult for him to stay put. 

Gohan returned to the clearing, passing on the other side of Trunks and Tenshi. Neither of them dared to breathe when they heard him rustle through so close by. He entered the clearing, then stopped, frowning. 

"Mommy?" he called. There was silence for a while, then, "Mommy, where are you?" 

Gohan continued to look around, then he went into the house. 

"Mommy!?" 

Trunks was really hoping Chichi would wake up. Tenshi was afraid to move for fear that she'd somehow affect what was happening. 

Piccolo stepped back into the clearing, waiting. Gohan came back out of the house. 

"Mommy! Where are you!?" 

Gohan stopped when he saw Piccolo. No recognition was in his face, but he was fearful and worried. 

"Who're you?" 

"A passer-by. Is something wrong?" 

"I - I can't find my mommy. She was just here." 

Piccolo pretended to survey the area. Tenshi's eyebrows furrowed. What was he doing . . . ? 

"She doesn't look like she's here, and she's not giving off an energy signal. I'd say she's gone." 

"G-gone!?" 

Gohan ran up to Piccolo. 

"But she can't be gone, she's my mommy!" 

A vein in Piccolo's forehead twitched. Tenshi recognized it as the same vein twitch that happened whenever Father heard noises that were too high-pitched for him. It didn't bother her as much because her hearing wasn't as good as Piccolo's. 

"Maybe she didn't want you anymore." 

"You're lying!" 

"Then why isn't she here?" 

Gohan's little four-year-old brain wracked itself for an answer, but it was struggling to find one, and Trunks's blood was boiling at this point. He gritted his teeth, and Tenshi had to put a hand on his shoulder to keep him from doing something stupid. 

Piccolo stared down at the child, then looked around more. 

"Where's your father?" 

"He - he went out to hunt for food." 

"When will he be back?" 

"I - I dunno...." 

Piccolo turned his head to look behind him, but Tenshi could see that it was to hide his smirk. He put the smirk away when he faced the boy again. 

"In that case, you should come with me. I can't let a little boy be all by himself in the middle of the woods." 

Gohan hesitated. 

"No, I think I should stay here. Daddy knows I'm here and he'll come back." 

"Unless he's left you too." 

"You shut up! My daddy wouldn't do that!" 

Piccolo's vein twitched again. Now _that_ one was indicating impatience, possibly anger as well. Her father seemed to lack the patience he had in his old age. 

Gohan, however, was becoming more confident in his parents' love for him and was growing in his desire to stay at home. 

"They'll come back and find me right here! So you go away!" 

Piccolo frowned, and the little boy had no idea what hit him. 

Literally. 

Piccolo vanished from Gohan's view, then reappeared behind him. Piccolo knocked the boy out with a quick chop to just below the neck. Gohan went out like a light. Piccolo grabbed the back of his shirt, tucked the small boy under his arm, then flew away. 

Chichi awoke, screaming for Gohan and searching the area. To no avail. 

Tenshi watched in stunned silence as Son Goku returned with wild boar for dinner, only to see his wife in hysterics and hear that Piccolo Jr. had kidnapped their child. 

The time scroll must've figured their time was up, because the bright light appeared around them and took them back to the Time Vault. 

Tenshi and Trunks landed unceremoniously on the floor of the Time Vault, but neither were really aware or caring about how the cold floor felt against whatever exposed skin they had. 

Trunks gritted his teeth hard. 

"So that's what changed your timeline. Instead of not seeking out Goku until Radditz invaded, he went and kidnapped Gohan for revenge for what happened at the Tenkaichi Budokai...." Trunks said through his gritted teeth. 

Tenshi stared at the ceiling. It was a very high ceiling from their position on the floor. 

"I don't understand...." Tenshi said. "Daddy loves Father...." 

Trunks took a deep breath, then lifted himself back into the sitting position. He turned around enough to look at her. 

Tenshi wasn't really looking at him as she continued. 

"He gave Father everything.... He said so.... Being loyal to Father and being Father's everything was really important to him...." 

Trunks frowned. She moved her head so that she could look up at him. He was upside down from her perspective, but she didn't care. 

"That . . . that is not the loyalty of a kidnapped child." 

". . . Have you ever heard of Stockholm Syndrome?" Trunks asked slowly. 

Tenshi furrowed her eyebrows, then slowly shook her head. 

Trunks opened his mouth to speak, but then they both heard a sound from across the Time Vault. They got up off the floor, then hurried over to see what it was. 

The scroll was glowing a dark, purple color. 

"Another time anomaly has happened," Trunks explained. He looked over at Tenshi. "Are you good for a time patrol? I can get someone else if you're not." 

Tenshi took a moment, then shook her head really hard. 

"No, I'm good. It'll be good for me to kick someone's ass." 

Trunks handed her the scroll, and away she went.


	5. The Arrival of the Saiyans

Tenshi appeared with a bright glow in the wastelands of the main timeline. The fighters below her stared up at her, wondering who she was and where she came from. Trunks was talking in her ear. 

"Yamcha, Tenshinhan, Chiaotzu, and Piccolo die by Nappa, the really big one. Don't let them transform into giant apes. What? Why are there this many Saibamen? And why are some of them pink? They're supposed to be all green...." 

Tenshi flew at the pink ones and took them out in a blink of an eye. They lay dead on the ground, blood and spit flecked on the dusty ground. 

"They're all green now," she said into the speaker in the scouter. 

"That's . . . one way to handle it." 

"Just who are you?" the Saiyan with the spiky hair called out to her. 

"That's Vegeta, my father," Trunks said. 

Tenshi tilted her head a bit. 

"You must get your cutie points from Dr. Briefs." 

"E-excuse me?" 

Tenshi ignored him and focused on the fight before her. 

"He's helped us out before!" Piccolo shouted to the other fighters. "With me and Goku against Radditz!" 

A vein in Tenshi's forehead twitched. She was a little used to getting mistaken for a boy, but from her father? Even though he had no reason to know that already in this timeline, it still hurt and was super annoying. 

"FYI, I'm a girl!" Tenshi shouted, working on taking out the little green men. If it was Nappa who was supposed to take out the fighters, then there was no need for any of these green guys. 

The green men were very easy to take out. 

"Um. I know it's . . . difficult to get misgendered, but we need to limit the amount of interaction with them as we can. So try not to engage them in conversation." 

"I _gathered_ that," Tenshi said. And she did, she just couldn't stand not pointing out the mistake. 

There were far too many little green guys, so by the time Tenshi took them all out, she realized she had gotten too far from the group. When she arrived, she saw that four of them were now dead. 

She stopped in her tracks when she saw that Piccolo was dead. Trunks had told her that he would be, but.... 

The image of Father getting ripped in half and his blood decorating the ground and rubble of their ruined city returned to her. 

"Tenshi! You can't let Nappa kill Gohan or Krillin! Tenshi!" 

Tenshi snapped out of it, then looked around to see where Nappa, Gohan, and Krillin had gone. (Krillin must've been the bald short one.) 

She could fly, but it took a lot of her energy, so she wanted to conserve it. They were too far away to just run towards them. 

So she got up on a big rock and shouted. 

"HEY! FILTHY MONKEY!" 

Nappa's and Vegeta's heads both snapped towards her. She smirked. 

"YEAH, YOU! THE BIG STUPID ONE!" 

"Stupid!?" Nappa spat. 

"WHY DON'T YOU GET YOUR APE BUTT OVER HERE AND FIGHT A _REAL_ WARRIOR? OR ARE YOU TOO BUSY FLINGING YOUR POOP AT A TODDLER AND A MIDGET?" 

"WHY YOU!" 

Nappa came flying at Tenshi. Exactly what she wanted. 

Melee fighting was what Tenshi was best at. Ki attacks took a lot of energy, energy she could not afford to spend unless it was an emergency. So up-close and personal was her forte. 

Vegeta, Krillin, and Gohan watched in shocked awe as Tenshi beat Nappa to the ground. She stomped her foot on his head, pinning him to the ground, and rubbing his face into the dirt. 

"Awww, what's the matter? Monkey bit off more than he could chew? Pity." 

"What are you doing? This isn't necessary," Trunks said in her ear. 

Tenshi brought her hand up to hold the scouter more still on her head as she talked. 

"What? You said to keep Krillin and Gohan alive, so what's the problem?" 

"You humiliating Nappa isn't part of the timeline. You're letting too much of yourself get exposed to the others. It's directly influencing their personalities and views of the events in such a way that it is dangerously close to affecting the timeline. You have to stop." 

Tenshi firmly kept her foot on Nappa's head. 

"So what do you want me to do, Oh Mighty Head Time Patroller?" 

The sarcasm in her voice was heavy. Trunks tried to stay level-headed. 

"Just stall them until Goku gets there. Goku will handle it from there. Come back after that." 

"Ugh, fine." She let her hand fall from her scouter. "And this was just starting to get fun, too." 

She got off Nappa's head, then gave his body one big kick and sent him flying across the wastelands. 

"Nappa! She has a _fucking air tank!_ You're getting your ass handed to you by a _disabled Namekian_! You should be ashamed of yourself!" 

"That's no Namekian! She's too strong!" Nappa protested. 

" _She's still disabled_ and you shouldn't be getting your ass beat! You're a disgrace!" 

"Gohan! Krillin!" 

"Goku!" Krillin shouted. 

"Daddy!" Gohan called. 

Vegeta lifted his hand and shot a great energy blast at Nappa. Tenshi had beat him up too badly for him to be able to dodge soon enough. 

Goku, Gohan, Krillin, and Tenshi watched wide-eyed at Vegeta killed his own teammate. 

"Wh-what?" Tenshi said aloud, just loud enough for Trunks to hear it. 

". . . That's supposed to happen. Originally, it was to punish Nappa for failing to kill Goku.... But this is close enough. Come back now, okay?" 

"O...okay." 

Vegeta had turned his eyes onto Tenshi as she said that. 

"You will pay for humiliating and insulting us! No one calls us dirty monkeys and gets away with it!" 

Vegeta flew at Tenshi, but the time scroll took Tenshi back just in time. 

She could hear Vegeta screaming "WHAT!?" as she went away, his voice echoing in her ears as she reappeared in the Time Vault. 

Trunks was frowning. 

"You're a good fighter, but you can't be so reckless. We do get involved to fix things, but we must restrict our involvement or else we risk creating a new time fragment or timeline. That isn't the case this time around, luckily. And . . . I understand if you're frustrated from what we learned about your timeline.... But reckless behavior and . . . ." 

Trunks was hesitating on what to call it. Tenshi had a feeling she knew what he was talking about. 

"Racial taunts?" she suggested. 

"Y-yeah.... Those two things really are not necessary or appropriate, especially on the job." 

His body language was tighter than usual, more rigid. 

"I upset you," she said, stating fact. 

Trunks swallowed hard. 

"I . . . I'm uncomfortable. With what you said to them...." 

Tenshi turned her head away from him, wondering to herself if she cared if she had upset him or not. She didn't care about what most humans (or Saiyans, she supposed) thought of what she thought of them or what she had to say. She was the Demon Queen, and what she and Father said was law, regardless of what they thought. But she cared about what Daddy had thought and Videl and Pan.... 

"I had to reserve my ki. I have limited reserves of it, and if I lose all my energy, I end up being super useless. So I couldn't just fly over to them, and I figured if he was pissed off, he'd come to me. And it worked," she explained. 

"I saw...." 

But he still looked uncomfortable, and she didn't know what else to say. She wasn't exactly sorry she said any of it. 

She reached out and put her hand on his shoulder. He looked up at her. 

"If it makes you feel any better, I don't think _you're_ a dirty monkey. You smell like shampoo and look very nice and clean." 

She patted his shoulder, then let go and started to walk out of the Time Vault. 

That didn't make Trunks feel better. He furrowed his eyebrows and kept frowning. 

"We're not monkeys, we're Saiyans," Trunks said. 

Tenshi stopped and turned around, looking a little confused. 

"What's the difference?" 

The question hurt more than Trunks expected it to, and he wasn't sure he could answer that in an appropriate fashion. When he failed to answer her in a timely manner, she continued out of the Time Vault. 

He followed her out, and at the bottom of the stairs was the Supreme Kai of Time. 

"Oh! Supreme Kai of Time!" 

"Hello!" 

Tenshi raised an eyebrow at her. She was . . . super tiny. She was the god in charge? 

Trunks hurried down the stairs to introduce them properly. 

"This is the Supreme Kai of Time! She's in charge of making sure time goes smoothly and making sure we do our job as Time Patrollers well! She's a very important person." 

She was making weird, happy faces, and giving little victory signs with her hands. Tenshi . . . couldn't exactly see herself as taking this woman seriously. Especially with how teeny tiny she was. Tenshi towered over her, and there may be a genuine risk of not seeing the Supreme Kai of Time and accidentally kicking her across Tokitoki if Tenshi wasn't looking where she was going. 

The bird, Tokitoki, came over and sat on top of Supreme Kai of Time's head. Supreme Kai of Time started yelling at the bird and making it get off her head and having a conversation with it. Trunks was struggling to try to get the situation to stop. When he had to give up on that, he turned to Tenshi. 

"I know she doesn't look it, but she's very important and vital to our work here in Tokitoki. You'll, heh, just have to trust me on that, eh heh.... Heh...." 

Tenshi smiled. He was really cute. 

"Geez." Supreme Kai of Time said, watching Tokitoki fly off to his bird perch. 

"Uh, Supreme Kai of Time?" Trunks said. 

"Oh, right. So you're the new Time Patroller that Shenron sent us. It's nice to meet you." 

Supreme Kai of Time blinked up at Tenshi, and Tenshi stared down at her. Supreme Kai of Time tilted her head to the side. 

"You look familiar, somehow.... I wonder why." 

Tenshi shrugged. "I've certainly never met you before, ma'am." 

Supreme Kai of Time shrugged as well. "Oh well. Anyway, it looks like you two are working together really well! With a few hiccups here and there, but that was just your second patrol?" 

"Yes, ma'am." 

"Then it's going good! We've definitely had bigger disasters when it comes to time patrols, haha." 

Tenshi nodded to show that she was listening. 

"Keep up the good work! And Trunks, I'll need that paperwork when you're done for today. We'll need to look into who we know who could have the ability to alter time like what just happened now. It wasn't a natural time shift." 

"Yes, Supreme Kai of Time." Trunks said. "Uh, what do you mean it wasn't a natural shift?" 

"I mean there's evidence that someone is deliberately messing with the timeline in ways that were not planned for. It's two people, but beyond that, I have no idea who it could be. We need to research into it." 

"Yes, ma'am," Trunks said, nodding. "I'll get right on that." 

Supreme Kai of Time grinned at them. 

"Have fun! Oh, what did you say your name was?" 

"Tenshi." 

"Tenshi, do you have sleeping quarters set up yet?" 

"I don't sleep, ma'am, I meditate." 

"Well, you'll still need a place to live! Trunks, set her up with one of the apartments, okay?" 

"Yes, ma'am." 

"See you later!" 

Supreme Kai of Time then went off to do . . . whatever Supreme Kais of Time do. 

Tenshi trailed behind Trunks as they went to do as the Supreme Kai of Time asked them to do: pick out a place to live. Tenshi did have to look down in order to look at Trunks regardless, but her eye line was going further down as she watched him walk. The coat kept her from getting a good look at his rear end, but she could see it slightly, and it looked like a rather fine example. 

She smiled to herself. He really was cute. And maybe she did care about what he thought about her.... 

Supreme Kai of Time then walked away.


	6. Piccolo's Sacrifice

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There is sex in flashbacks at the very end of the chapter. None of it is underage. Consent is unclear due to Stockholm Syndrome and enslavement being present between the two having sex, but the act of sex is presented by the characters as consensual.

Trunks took her to where the apartments were. He talked to the landlord and worked out where Tenshi was going to stay. 

"You don't sleep, so unless you really want a bed, that'll be one less expense for you. And you're a Namekian, so you just drink water, right?" 

"Mineral water and protein shakes. I sometimes drink alcohol just for fun, but it provides no nutritional value." 

"All right. Why the protein shakes, if I may ask?" 

"Due to Daddy not being a Namekian, I need to supplement my diet with protein. It keeps me able to fight and push myself to my limits better. Also helps with handling ki. I was a pathetic wimp before we figured _that_ out." 

She laughed lightly. Trunks smiled a little. 

"You saw where the grocery store here is, right? We can go there and get you groceries once you're settled in. You can also set up whatever furniture or electronics you want. And you also have access to the training rooms on the ground floor. We also have an annual tournament, so if you're interested, you can enter that when the time comes. The tournament is a good way to see how each and every time patroller is doing in terms of progress. And it's fun." 

Tenshi nodded, smirking. "I look forward to it." 

Tenshi pocketed her room key, then went with Trunks to the store. They got her a mini fridge and plenty of water and protein shakes, then took it back to the apartment. Tenshi hooked it up to the wall, rather impressed by the technology and looking wide-eyed at everything. Trunks watched her, finding her reactions to the technology rather adorable. It was clear that aside from Bulma in her timeline, she never had many opportunities to check out the more technologically advanced sides to Earth. Though her ability to recognize some tech and not others meant that she had been exposed to some of it, and that in her timeline, it might've been more that people were not willing to do business with the Demon Kingdom if they were outside of it. 

He was becoming increasingly curious (perhaps morbidly so) about what her life was like, what her timeline was like exactly, and how it formed her views. He wanted to know why she felt so comfortable slinging around racial taunts to a species she was half of, he wanted to know why toilets and air conditioning were apparently non-things at her home. He wanted to know how she became who she was. 

They also got her air tank refills. They put some into capsules and others in her apartment. 

Tenshi was starting to get tired, and Trunks could see it in her face. 

"I'll let you rest. You've been through a lot in a short amount of time. We can do whatever else needs to be done tomorrow." 

"Right," Tenshi said, switching out her nasal cannula for her face mask. It was starting to bug her nose. 

He left, and she looked down at her clothes. She zapped better, not blood-stained or torn-up ones onto herself. She was tired of her father's purple gi. Remembering the kind of clothes that Nail had introduced to them, she zapped herself into light blue gi pants, a blue tunic with purple edging and a sash around, a pink jacket that cut around her ribcage, blue bands around her wrists, pink shoes, and a pink cape that wrapped around her neck like Father's white cape, but without the bulky shoulder pads. She then moved into her meditative state and proceeded to meditate. 

She thought back to Nail, how he called the outfit a "Shingi Demon Clan Battle Gi," remembering muttering she couldn't hear very well between Nail and Dende. She wondered if they had known they were Namekians and just didn't say anything, or if it would have been a surprise to them too. 

She supposed she'd just have to find out when she and Trunks got to that part in the time scroll, and she tucked the thought away to focus on clearing her mind. 

The next morning, Tenshi and Trunks went back into the Time Vault. 

There were a few things that Tenshi picked up on that morning that she hadn't noticed that evening. 

Her neighbor across the hall was a man called Harry. He worked for Capsule Corp., so technically he worked for Trunks. His ki was really low, so she assumed he wasn't a fighter but a tech guy. 

"Good morning, Trunks!" Harry said. 

"Morning! Ah, there you are. Ready to go?" Trunks said, first to Harry, then to Tenshi. 

"Yup," Tenshi said, adjusting her nasal cannula. Her cape covered her air tank, but the tube came up from the neck covering and attached to her face. 

"Harry, this is Tenshi. She's a new Time Patroller. Tenshi, this is Harry. If you need any help with any tech, just let him know." 

"'Kay. See ya." 

She waved him goodbye slightly as she and Trunks left the apartment. A tiny look back at him showed that he was a little disappointed, but why, she could only guess. 

They reached the Time Vault again and found the right scroll a lot more easily than before. 

Tenshi and Trunks both took hold of it and held it tightly. They were then transported to the next relevant-to-their-interests point in Tenshi's timeline. 

It was the middle of a wasteland. Tenshi and Trunks looked around, trying to find where Piccolo and Gohan were. 

They found their ki signals, then flew in that direction, then when they were within eye sight, slowed down and lowered their own ki, then went into hiding. Spectator-only mode. Spectator-only mode, Trunks had to keep reminding himself. They couldn't afford to make another time fragment from this already-time fragment. No matter how much he wanted to, he couldn't stop it, no matter how immoral it was. 

Gohan was beaten up and dirty and bloody, and Piccolo was standing over him, frowning. 

"Now what have we learned?" Piccolo asked. 

Gohan started crying and sniffling. It made Piccolo groan heavily and his vein in his forehead twitch. 

"Maybe this was a mistake," Piccolo muttered under his breath. 

Piccolo, Tenshi, and Trunks picked up on the ki signal at the same time. Trunks and Tenshi lowered their own signals even more and stayed low to the ground. 

Radditz appeared above them, frowning. 

"You're not Kakarott!" 

Gohan stopped crying and stared up at Radditz, his little body trembling. Piccolo's eyes were wide, having never expected someone who _wasn't_ Goku to ever have a power level close to that. 

"And just who the hell are you?" Piccolo demanded, not willing to look afraid in front of the stranger. 

"None of your concern. Now, do you know a Kakarott?" 

"No!" Piccolo shouted up. "Now get lost!" 

"You should really be careful who you talk to like that! Or you'll regret it!" Radditz taunted, smirking. 

Radditz then zeroed in on Gohan's tail. He smirked. 

" _And_ you're a liar! You know Kakarott, or else you wouldn't have a Saiyan child near your feet!" 

"The hell is a Saiyan? I don't know what you're talking about, but I don't know any Kakarott, and this kid doesn't belong to him. He belongs to _me_!" 

Radditz descended and landed on the ground, then strode towards them. 

"I highly doubt that. Since he is a member of my species, I'll just go ahead and take him then." 

Radditz got closer to Gohan. Gohan, not knowing who Radditz was, backed away from him. Piccolo got between Gohan and Radditz. 

"The hell you are! Gohan, in the cave, now!" 

Radditz threw a kick at Piccolo to get him out of the way, but Piccolo blocked. Gohan stayed, frozen in place. 

Radditz and Piccolo began to fight. Punching and kicking and ki-blasting and flying around each other. Melee attacks and aerial maneuvers. Eventually, Piccolo was beaten into the ground, and he stopped moving. 

Gohan watched with wide, frightened eyes. Tenshi wished she knew what he was thinking. All she could gather was that he was terrified. 

Radditz then approached Gohan again, grinning. 

"Come here, nephew." 

Gohan stepped away from Radditz, then started to run away as Radditz got closer. Radditz caught Gohan by the back of his shirt and lifted him up off the ground. Gohan started screaming. 

"Put me down, put me down!" 

Radditz began to take off into the air, but then he felt a ki blast hit him in the back. He was thrown forward, losing his grip on Gohan. Gohan fell to the ground, and he looked around to see Piccolo getting back up. 

"You aren't going anywhere with him!" 

Piccolo and Radditz went at it again, Gohan ducking and covering his head as they hovered over him. He peered up at the two fighters, their movements impossible to follow. 

But Radditz's tail was starting to just swish back and forth. Radditz did an uppercut to Piccolo, smirking. 

"You're done for!" Radditz announced. 

But then overwhelming pain shook Radditz's body, and he fell to his knees. 

"AAAAARGH!" 

Gohan had reached out and grabbed Radditz's tail, trying to help. 

Piccolo watched as Radditz fell to the ground, then his eyes traveled over Radditz and saw that Gohan had gripped onto Radditz's tail. He smirked, walking over to Gohan. 

"Good work, kid," Piccolo said, taking the tail from him and yanking hard. Radditz screamed out in pain. 

Piccolo brought his hand up, index and middle fingers extended. 

"I have a new technique I've been wanting to try. The charge-up time takes a while still, so you now make the _perfect_ target. Gohan, step back a bit. Shit's gonna fly." 

Gohan listened to Piccolo this time, staring at the green man with something akin to wonder. 

Five minutes passed, then Piccolo absolutely destroyed Radditz with - "SPECIAL BEAM CANNON!" 

With how close he was to Radditz, rock and blood and body parts flew all over the area. Trunks and Tenshi had to duck to avoid getting hit by one of Radditz's legs. 

Piccolo's lower half of his gi was decorated with blood. He turned to look at Gohan. Gohan's face was flecked with Radditz's blood. His eyes were wide, but he wasn't crying anymore. 

"See why you don't get on my bad side?" Piccolo asked. 

Gohan nodded slowly. 

Piccolo, still holding onto Radditz's tail (which was no longer attached to anything), then suddenly fell over. Gohan didn't move at first. Then, he slowly approached Piccolo's body. 

He was alive, but injured. Gohan looked around the area, then grabbed Piccolo's gi and tugged him towards a shaded area. 

Tenshi and Trunks watched as Gohan got plants with medicinal purposes and gourds of water. They eventually crawled closer to a new hiding spot. 

Tenshi could see her daddy now, in this small boy. With how he was taking care of Piccolo. 

Piccolo eventually regained consciousness and looked around, finding Gohan over him and treating his wounds. 

"What . . . are you doing?" he asked. 

Gohan flinched a little, but he swallowed and answered. 

"You were injured, so I'm taking care of you. Like Mommy would take care of me if I got hurt." 

Piccolo watched Gohan for a moment. 

"Why?" he asked, softly. 

Gohan rubbed the back of his neck. 

"Well, you saved me from him. He was gonna take me away, and - and you said I'm just staying with you until Mommy and Daddy come back, right?" 

Piccolo was silent, but Gohan took it for a yes, while Tenshi and Trunks knew it was a no. 

Gohan continued to take care of Piccolo, and Piccolo let him. 

"You'll stay with me if they never come for you. Understand?" Piccolo said. 

Gohan nodded. 

"Yes, Mr. Piccolo." 

"Good boy." 

Piccolo lifted his hand and ruffled Gohan's hair a little bit. Gohan smiled a little bit. 

Despite having the materials with them, Gohan didn't seem to think about taking care of his own injuries while Piccolo needed taking care of. He didn't attend to them until there was nothing else he could do for Piccolo aside from waiting. After their injuries were properly taken care of, Gohan went in search of food. 

"Do you eat anything, Mr. Piccolo?" 

"No. Just water. Go hunt whatever you want." 

"Okay." 

And Gohan came back. 

Piccolo smirked to himself. 

Trunks and Tenshi were then sent back to Tokitoki. They landed a bit unceremoniously onto the floor once again, but they were both sitting upright. 

Trunks punched the floor. "Dammit!" 

Tenshi looked over at him, frowning. "What's up with you?" 

"I can't stand it! I can't stand your father! I like Piccolo just fine, but in your timeline, he's despicable! He kidnapped Gohan and manipulated him, using death threats, and fostering Stockholm Syndrome in Gohan! It's disgusting, and if I didn't know better, I'd say Piccolo knew what Stockholm Syndrome was and is doing it on purpose!" 

Tenshi frowned, not appreciating the attacks on her father, but not able to deny that . . . what they had seen was fucked up. It was making her uncomfortable and uncertain about how she felt about it all. 

"That's the second time you've mentioned that.... What is it? Stockholm Syndrome...." 

Trunks sighed and tried to calm down. 

"Stockholm Syndrome is when you develop positive feelings for your abuser. The name comes from a specific case of abduction and hostage-holding in Stockholm, Sweden in one of the timelines. It's when you find yourself in an abusive, life-threatening situation and to survive, you form a bond with your captor. Instead of being afraid of them, you find reasons to care about them and become their friend. Even though they may really kill you and hurt you.... Even if the abusers are placed in prison, those with Stockholm Syndrome still think of them as good people, sometimes wanting to go back to them or to free them from prison. Those with Stockholm Syndrome will also feel resentment or distrust friends or family who try to help them escape their situation or their abuser. They'll support their abuser's behaviors and reasons for doing bad things, even to the point of actively helping them escape punishment or carrying out crimes against others. The abuser will also develop positive emotions for their victim, and victims will latch onto the good things that the abuser has done as evidence that they're not all bad. But those good behaviors are right next to things like threatening to kill them, abusing them physically, verbally, even sexually.... Those with Stockholm Syndrome also struggle to participate or cooperate with things that will aide in their escape from their abuser. It's . . . not pretty." 

Tenshi frowned and curled herself into a ball. It couldn't be described as a tiny ball of any sort, but she herself was smaller than usual. 

"How do you know Daddy has that? Maybe he just likes Father...." 

Trunks sighed. 

"We saw the same thing, didn't we? How would you describe that?" 

Tenshi was silent, and she hung her head a bit. 

". . . I'd describe that as Father kidnapping Daddy and lying and benefiting from it. . . ." 

Trunks relaxed his shoulders a bit, thankful that they at least agreed on that. 

". . . I don't like it. I don't like . . . that it's not the way Daddy told me. Or the way Father told me. . . ." 

"What did they tell you?" 

Tenshi frowned, staring at her pink shoes. 

"Daddy said . . . Daddy said Father took care of him when no one else would and loves him more than anything and . . . and that's why he devoted his whole self to Father. . . ." She held up her wrists, staring at them. "'These bangles and collar are proof of my loyalty to your Father.' That's what he said.... And he was so proud of them.... He never took them off.... Not even to sleep in. Even Videl and Pan took theirs off to sleep...."

"Bangles and collar?" Trunks asked. "What were those for?" 

"Slave garb, they were all wearing it. Clothes depended on their job, but they all had the bangles and collar," Tenshi said casually. 

Trunks really wasn't paying attention to anything Tenshi said after that. 

"What?" he said, interrupting her continuing to talk about Gohan and things he used to say. 

She looked up at him. "Huh?" 

"What did you say?" 

"I . . . said that Daddy loved nothing more than to be praised by Father." 

"N-no, before that. You said the - the bangles and collar were - were - " He couldn't say it. 

"Slave garb. We had a lot of them, but not all humans were slaves, so we had to have a way to tell them apart. So Father gave them the collar and bangles around their wrists." 

"Y-you had slaves in - in your timeline. No, in - in your _home_." 

"Yeah, of course I did. Father was _king_ , and I the heir and the Queen. Father owned most of them, but I got to have Pan all to myself." 

"I'm . . . I'm glad I'm sitting down." 

"Hm?" 

"Holy shit." 

Tenshi raised an eyebrow. "What's up with you?" 

"Uh - just so you know - most of the timelines we're going to be visiting will _not_ have slave trades - not legal ones - in them. Just so you know. You, uh, might not want to just tell people that all willy-nilly. It'll, uh, be best for . . . everybody if they don't know that, probably...." 

Tenshi tilted her head to the side. "How come?" 

Oh dear Kami, please rescue him from this. 

"Slavery is _bad_. We have one Time Patroller who went in time to prevent the creation of the cotton gin in their timeline. We had to fix that and contain that time fragment, but they had believed the cotton gin was the biggest cause of slavery in their world and - "

"Was it?" 

"Well, no, not really, but it did create a big boom in their slave trade when it was invented, which eventually lead to what they called in that country the Civil War, and I'm a little fuzzy on the details since I wasn't on that mission, b-but the general consensus is that without the cotton gin, the Civil War never happened, and slavery in that timeline lasted legally for - what am I talking about that for, the point is, it's _bad_! _Really, really bad_! So bad some people think that if it never happened, all their present day problems wouldn't exist! And it has a huge affect on cultures and timelines afterwards, even if it's abolished! With how genetic trauma works, it can severely affect a whole group of people for decades, even longer!" 

A sickening feeling crept into Trunks's stomach. 

"And - and you said Gohan wore them, too?" 

Tenshi nodded. "Yeah. He also had the nipple piercings. And a bunch of different outfits depending on what his job that day was going to be." 

"N-nipple - piercings?" 

"Yeah, all the sex slaves wore them." 

Trunks couldn't take it anymore. He put his head in his hands and groaned loudly. Tenshi watched him, not quite getting why he was so upset. 

Tenshi then started to talk more about it. 

"Videl and Pan almost always wore the warrior uniform, since they were fighters, but Pan was my personal and she spent _all_ her time with me. She was my best friend and my half-sister, and we did everything together. But Daddy had a child-taker uniform, warrior uniform, whore outfit - "

"Please stop," Trunks begged. 

Tenshi complied, still staring at him like she didn't understand what the problem was. 

It was a long, long silence before Trunks lifted his head out of his hands and asked his next question. 

"How do you know he had a - that last one?" 

Tenshi laughed a little and rubbed the back of her neck. 

"I walked in on Father and Daddy fucking a few times. The first one was how I got the talk." 

She remembered that one really well. 

_It was nighttime and she was supposed to be meditating in her room in her bed, or at least reading her study books throughout the night, but some of her reading had given her lots of questions, and she really wanted to talk to Daddy about them. She was about ten-years-old. Pan had gone to bed with Mama Vi a long while ago._

_She could hear the moaning and groaning from down the hall, and she wondered what was causing it. She had no context for what it could've been._

_She slipped past the guard who was falling asleep himself and snuck into Father and Daddy's room._

_Neither heard the door creak open or her footsteps along the floor. Piccolo's hands were clamped firmly to Gohan's hips, and Gohan was bouncing on Piccolo's thick, erect dick with good veins. He grunted and moaned with each thrust downward, and his eyes were squeezed shut and teeth gritted with the effort of pushing Piccolo deep inside of him. Piccolo helped push Gohan onto his dick, making his cock hit Gohan's prostate hard._

_Tenshi just stared at it for a good long moment before speaking up, her eyes getting drawn to Piccolo moving one hand towards Gohan's right nipple and playing with the nipple and its piercing, tugging on it and making Gohan cry out._

_"How come you get to play with it but I can't?" Tenshi asked, focusing on that instead because she knew what _that_ was, not so much the rest of it._

_That made Piccolo snap his attention to her, but not before Gohan could thrust his hips down one last time before opening his eyes and finding their daughter watching them._

_"Wh-what are you doing here!?" Piccolo demanded._

_"I had questions about my book! What're you doing?"_

_Piccolo was a heavy purple in the face, and Gohan was blushing a deep red. Piccolo's dick was very much still buried in Gohan's ass. Tenshi narrowed her eyes._

_"Doesn't he poop from there?"_

_"S-sweetheart, we'll explain everything, but can you give us . . . twenty minutes?"_

_"Maybe thirty," Piccolo said._

_"Thirty minutes so Daddy can finish fulfilling your father's current order. Then we can explain, okay?"_

_Tenshi had agreed, then was made to stand outside. It was forty-five before she was allowed back in, and she had still heard quite a bit of it, including Piccolo complaining about being interrupted and what Tenshi would later realize was the sounds of Piccolo flipping them over and fucking Gohan so hard the sounds of flesh slapping against flesh could echo out into the hall._

Trunks pinched the bridge of his nose. He kind of looked like he was in actual physical pain. 

"I'm going to need to be alone to process all of that. I . . . have gathered that you don't really know why that is, but trust me when I say that you don't want to backlash all of that is going to bring up if you tell anyone else. So just . . . let's keep this between us, all right?" 

"Okay...." Tenshi said, still not seeing what the big deal was. 

He got up and then walked out of the Time Vault, holding his head. She followed him out, then watched him head to what must've been his house, right outside of the Time Vault. It had a bunch of giant crap out in his backyard. She wondered if that was, like, inventions or something. Like Dr. Briefs had. 

Tenshi went back to her apartment and tried to meditate, but her thoughts couldn't help but go to her memories about Father and Daddy. 

_Gohan had covered up, but it was honestly hard to do that when the outfit you were wearing before was the "whore outfit" Tenshi would later learn to call it. It covered his penis, and that was the important part, Tenshi supposed. (It was kind of the only thing it covered up. Later in life, when seeking out sex for herself, she'd learn that there wasn't any fabric covering up the "entry way" so to speak. But Gohan was sitting on the bed, so that was a non-issue right then.) Piccolo stayed in the bed, the bed covers covering up what Tenshi didn't need to see, though Tenshi didn't see the point since she had already seen both their dicks, even if it wasn't something they intended to happen._

_"What you saw is known as sex, and it's one of the many ways I serve your father," Gohan explained. Piccolo mostly sat there with his arms crossed, listening. Tenshi sat on the bed beside Gohan. "Sometimes your father experiences sexual arousal, and the way to satisfy him is for him to fuck me. There's a few ways of doing that, and one of those ways is how you were born."_

_"Huh?"_

_"You know the books you have on plantlife?"_

_"Yeah."_

_"So your father has something like a flower in his throat, and so do you. You're too young right now for it to be doing anything, but when you're old enough, when you take someone's mouth to yours or their privates to your mouth, it's like when the bee comes to get the nectar from the flower. Except I don't take anything from him, and no one takes anything from you. The bee gives the flower pollen that then helps the flower create seeds for another flower, and that's what I did for your father so we could have you. I gave him part of my DNA through my saliva, and it went to his egg-making parts, and then you were born."_

_"Ohhhh. So were you making another baby?"_

_Gohan smiled at her._

_"No, sweetie, Daddy can't bear children. If he could, he'd give you and your father all the brothers and sisters in the world. Only demons like your father, Nail, and Dende, and human women can give birth. Human men just provide the DNA needed to make a baby."_

_"So if you weren't making a baby, then what was happening?"_

_"Having children is only one reason to have sex. The other is because it's fun and feels good. It's an adult-only activity, though, so I don't want you trying it until you've reached adulthood."_

_"Okay. But why would it feel good to put something up your pooper? Isn't that dirty?"_

_"Gohan makes sure it isn't," Piccolo said. "But if you're afraid of a little dirt, you shouldn't even bother with it even if you're old enough, understand? If someone's willing to pleasure you, getting grossed out by things their body does naturally is rude, and I have not raised you to be rude."_

_"Yes, Father."_

Tenshi knew she was failing at clearing her mind with this meditation session, but she couldn't bring herself to be angry about it. 

She missed her parents....


	7. The Ginyu Force

Trunks had not slept easily that night. He twisted and turned on his fuuton on the floor of his one-room house just outside of the Time Vault, and he ended up waking up and staring up at the ceiling. 

He couldn't stop thinking about it. He . . . he had known people from timelines where slavery _had_ happened, but none of them had had the technology to travel through time during those time frames.... It was always background noise in their genetic make-up somehow, if it was relevant at all.... 

He had never met anyone who had lived in a time where it was actively being practiced. Who had _owned_ a person themselves.... 

And that person . . . had been her half-sister.... Had looked . . . like a human, was probably mostly human. . . . But if they were related, then . . . was Pan a fourth Saiyan? Was she Gohan's child? He . . . doubted that Pan was half-Namekian, if Tenshi was half-Namekian and a queen.... No, deductive reasoning said Pan was more than likely Gohan's child with a human woman.... And she, Tenshi, had . . . . 

She had owned _people like him_ in her timeline. That's why she had no problems with calling Saiyans monkeys.... To her, they were less than what she was.... 

Trunks wasn't hungry in the morning when breakfast time came. He forced himself to have a bowl of rice with salt and butter, and that was it. 

"Hey, are you feeling all right?" 

Trunks jumped a little, then turned his head to see the Supreme Kai of Time standing in his home. She had a habit of dropping in whenever she wanted. 

"I'm fine, Supreme Kai of Time. Really. Just not hungry this morning." 

"That's really unlike you. Unlike anyone from your race, actually. Maybe you're coming down with something.... Take it easy today, all right?" 

"Yes, ma'am," Trunks said, not going to go out of his way to take it easy, but not going to seek out trouble. 

"How're things with the new recruit? Word's gotten around real fast," she said. 

"Things are good," Trunks said, keeping it strictly professional. "She's a good fighter, and I'm impressing upon her the importance of not altering the timelines. She assures me she understands." 

"That's good." 

Supreme Kai of Time sighed and put her hand under her chin. 

"Now if I could just remember why she looks familiar," she said. 

"Pardon?" 

"Tenshi reminds me of someone - or some _thing_ \- and I can't think of what that could possibly be." 

"Well, she is a Namekian, and they look very similar to each other. They don't have the color variations that so many other species have. So maybe that's why? We have encountered Namekians here before...." 

"That's true.... But that doesn't really feel like that's it." 

Supreme Kai of Time shrugged. 

"Oh well. Take care of yourself, all right?" 

"Yes, ma'am." 

Supreme Kai of Time then left Trunks to his business, and Trunks finished what he could of his bowl of rice. 

Tenshi meditated without any issues, and she was wandering around TokiToki while she waited for Trunks to re-emerge. She hadn't realized he lived right outside of the Time Vault, so she was exploring the area by herself more while waiting for him to come get her for the next Time Patrol. 

There was one thing she wasn't finding, and she wondered if they just didn't have one or if it was hidden somewhere.... 

She found one of the little robots that Trunks said would be able to help her answer questions. 

"Hey, Mr. Robot." 

"How may I be of assistance?" 

"Do you have, like, unlimited knowledge about the geographical area here and where stuff is? Or a map in that computer brain of yours or something?" 

"I have many knowledge about many things. I do not have a map." 

"Well, do you happen to know where a brothel around here is?" 

"I do not know what this 'brothel' is." 

Tenshi sighed. Figured. 

"Do you know of any one I can ask about where one might be?" 

"Negative. I do not have that information in my database." 

"Fine. Thanks anyway." 

She walked away from the robot, scratching the top of her head, then adjusting her diadem. Her diadem was gold and banded around her head, proof of her royal status. It was decorated with diamonds and an intricate design. 

People were staring at her as she walked around, but she was used to that. Being the heir to the throne earned you plenty of stares back home. So she paid it no mind. She wondered if she should just ask Trunks....

She ran into Harry before she could find Trunks. She passed him, at first ignoring the small wave he gave her. Then it occurred to her that she could ask him. 

She turned around and went after him. 

"Hey, wait up!"

Harry stopped and turned to look at her. Tenshi walked right up to him. 

"Hey, question, how's anyone supposed to get laid over here? Not that I'm looking right now, but for future reference. There's no bar, no brothel, so what gives?" 

She had her hands on her hips, and Harry looked at her, a bit unnerved. 

"Of - of _course_ there's no brothel or bar, this is a place of _work_." 

"It's a _city_ , isn't it? Even if it's not here-here, you've gotta go _somewhere_ for it, don't you? You can't be telling me everyone here is some kind of virgin or in a monogamous relationship or got some honor code or whatever. Like, is there a group outing to another city? C'mon, help a girl out." 

Harry looked her up and down. A vein twitched in her forehead. _Why was everyone here doing that when she mentioned her gender_? She was starting to miss the unquestioning respect she had back home. Before everything was on fire and destroyed. 

"Um.... There really isn't anything like that here. This is in Otherworld, which is a _pure_ place. While there are people having sex here in Otherworld, it does not take the form of unethical human labor or consent-manipulating substances." 

"Conse-wha?" Tenshi asked, raising an eyebrow ridge. "Look, I just want to know how I'm gonna get it on when I want to. Is there at _least_ a shop with sex toys?" 

From the look on Harry's face, she could tell he didn't like her. Well, too bad, she was starting not to like him either. 

"Tenshi!" called Trunks. 

Oh thank God. 

"Hey, Trunks!" Tenshi called over her shoulder at him, turning her head around to look at him. "Harry's being less than helpful! How am I supposed to get laid here in TokiToki?" 

Her voice was deep and echoed throughout the area, and now everyone was staring at them. 

Trunks just stared at her, along with everyone else, and steadily started to blush. 

Tenshi assumed she needed to clarify. 

"He says you don't have brothels or bars, and you said there's no - " 

"I know what I said!" Trunks said, blushing harder and not wanting her to finish that sentence. "Just, ah, um, I'd assume you'd need a significant other or friend with benefits so . . . um. . . . Find one of those. We have work to do, though, right now, so, let's, ah, go do that! Okay?" 

Tenshi put her hands behind her head and walked over to Trunks, then followed him back to the Time Vault. 

" _Back home_ , all I had to do was walk into the whore house and shout who wanted the anal-ilator," she muttered under her breath as they walked through the blue shimmery portal between the village area and the Time Vault. 

Trunks started to giggle, and he kind of hated himself for it. He covered his mouth to try to stifle the noise, but to no avail. 

Tenshi smirked. 

"You like that?" 

"The - the pun is amusing," Trunks said, looking down at the ground and still blushing. "I'm not sure I buy that it helped you get laid, though." 

"Tch, whatever. I had men _and_ women clamoring to be with me and I got to take my pick. Pan was popular, too, but she only liked dudes." 

Trunks didn't ask and looked ahead at the Time Vault. But it was still quite a walk from the portal to the Time Vault so Tenshi had time to look him up and down, eyes landing around his rear-end area, then going back up to his face as her strides brought her to walk beside him instead of behind. 

"Most people think I'd only like men, since Nail, Dende, and Father were only interested in male bed partners, but women were often better company, and they really don't know what they're missing when it comes to vaginal penetration." 

"O-kay! The, uh, the scroll we're going into started acting up this morning, and I came to get you as soon as I could, and, I, I, uh...." Trunks was desperately trying to change the conversation, but his blush told Tenshi a lot more than he had wanted it to. 

"You're a virgin, aren't you?" Tenshi asked. 

Trunks's body went a little rigid, and he glanced at her, nervously. She grinned. 

"You totally are." 

"W-what of it?" 

"Nothing. It's cute.

They reached the Time Vault, finally, and Tenshi allowed Trunks to get back to business. Trunks still had a light blush as they opened the scroll and looked at what had changed. 

Tenshi watched the events play out in the scroll. She had no idea what was going on, but Trunks's reaction told her it was bad. 

"What!? Father is Ginyu!? Wait, no, Ginyu is Father!?" 

"More like Ginyu switched bodies with your father, then switched bodies with Goku, making Goku your new dad," Tenshi said. "Heh, that'd make us related." 

Trunks ruffled his hair with his hands, head starting to hurt. Tenshi giggled a little. 

"I, uh, need you to deal with my father." 

"I'm getting a feeling I'll be dealing with your father a lot." 

". . . Yeah." 

Trunks's blush returned for another reason entirely. Tenshi smiled. He was cute. 

Tenshi took hold of the time scroll and held it tightly. 

"Don't worry, I'll save your dad. And refrain from calling him a monkey this time around." 

"Thank you," Trunks said, meaning it more than she really realized. 

She arrived in the main time line at the point it had been changed. The purple man - Ginyu - looked over at her with distain. 

"YOU!" Vegeta shouted, remembering her from when she intervened with the Saiyan invasion. "You're lucky we have bigger problems, or I'd pummel you right now!" 

Tenshi's vein in her forehead twitched, but she ignored him and flew right at this Captain Ginyu guy. 

It . . . might not have been the best decision. 

Ginyu was super strong. Possibly the strongest person she had ever fought before. Which scared her, because Father was the only one ever to best her in combat after a certain point. 

But the truth of the matter was she had been unprepared to face such a level of power, and she took the toll for it. Ginyu wailed on her, and it was hard for her to get away. 

After she got away from him, she was able to readjust and respond in kind, but she was already bruised and she could feel the blood pooling underneath her skin. Shit. She had to finish this fast. 

"No, time has already been changed at this point. Ginyu shouldn't be here," Trunks said in her ear thanks to the scouter. 

"Tell that to him!" Tenshi hissed into the scouter speaker, making a decent punch to Ginyu's face before getting punted across the grassland. "Shit!" 

"Are you all right?" 

"I'm bruised and bleeding, what do you think?" 

"Uh...." 

Shit, he might not really know. 

"I can't clot, I've gotta wrap this up fast or die trying!" she shouted into the scouter, spending energy she was afraid she didn't have to reach Ginyu - but the hulky, red-headed one got in the way. So she focused on him instead. 

In the Time Vault, Trunks's eyes widened. "What!?" 

Tenshi didn't bother to respond, she knew he heard her. 

Between her, Krillin, and Gohan, they were able to overcome Recoome, but he was still able to get up. Tenshi was starting to pant. Shit, shit, shit.... She was overexerting herself, this wasn't good.... 

Then Goku showed up and kicked Recoome's ass hard, and Tenshi was never more relieved to see anybody. 

"Okay, Goku's here, he'll be able to help. Just . . . do what you can to take out Ginyu, and then come back." 

Tenshi didn't waste air with responding. She flew over to Goku and Ginyu, but Burta and Jeice got in the way. 

She was struggling to keep up, but she was able to focus on Jeice while Burta fought Vegeta. 

Then Jeice kicked her real hard, and she had no control over her trajectory. 

"CHANGE NOW!" shouted Ginyu. 

She had no idea what that meant until she found herself staring at herself, struggling to breath and falling to the ground. Then looked at her hands and saw purple. 

"NO!" Tenshi shouted, flying down to her body - Ginyu - and going to her body. "GIVE IT BACK! GIVE ME MY BODY BACK!"

Ginyu was hacking up Tenshi's lungs and glaring at Jeice. 

"Y- _you made me switch bodies with a dying Namekian, Jeice!_ What's the matter with you!?" More coughing. 

"I - I'm sorry, Captain!" 

"Give it back!" Tenshi grabbed the front of her Shingi Demon Clan uniform, the pink fabric wrinkling in Ginyu's thick, purple fingers. 

"I don't know why you even _want_ this pathetic body back. You won't last more than a few hours with this sack of useless meat!" 

Ginyu coughed, and Tenshi saw her blood color fly. 

"You don't want it, so give it back!" Tenshi said, tears rolling down Ginyu's face. 

The other Ginyu Force members, Goku, Vegeta, Killin, and Gohan all came down to see what was happening and were looking on in shock and confusion. 

"Ch-change - now!" Ginyu said with what breath he had left, and he and Tenshi switched back. 

Ginyu let go of her pink jacket and let her fall to the ground, gasping for air. She switched out her nasal cannula with her face mask with a shaking hand. She could feel the bleeding under her skin worse now. 

"Lungs that work! I never thought I'd be so happy to have them! Dammit, Jeice, what's the matter with you!? I could've died!" 

"I really am sorry, Captain!" 

"Trunks - Trunks," she said into the mask. "What do you need me to do?" 

"I need you to come back now!" 

"But the mission - " 

"I'll handle it, switch out with me and immediately go to the medic bay! I'll get Harry to take you!" 

She could hear Harry being called over the scouter as she relented to Trunks's wish and felt herself be teleported back. 

"H-hey, where're you going?" she heard Gohan ask her, worry in his voice. "Are you gonna be okay?" 

She only had it in her to turn her head to look at him, but she vanished before she could make herself have the energy to do anything else. 

She didn't see Trunks when she came back, but Harry and a few medics where there waiting for her. She was immediately taken to the medic bay. 

She ended up falling asleep - something she only did when greatly injured - and when she woke up, Trunks was back, a little worse for wear. The Supreme Kai of Time was also with him. 

"How are you feeling?" he asked. 

Tenshi sat up and looked herself over. 

"You must have one hell of a medic team. I'm feeling a lot better already. Just . . . just tired." 

"Why didn't you tell us you can't clot beforehand? That sounds like important information, don't you think?" Supreme Kai of Time asked. 

Tenshi gave her a glare and wanted to snap a retort at her. But Trunks spoke up first. 

"Even though she didn't tell us, we still should've had a medic team on hand at all times, not scrambling to get one at the last minute. We know she has an air tank that she needs to breathe, this should've been a top priority for us, and no one thought of it. Tenshi, I'm so sorry, we shouldn't have put your life this much at risk. Sure, some risk is part of the job but - " 

"I'm fine now, and that's what matters. What happened after I passed out?" Tenshi asked. 

"Trunks put the past right again, and he met the two people messing with the timeline," Supreme Kai of Time said. 

"Their names are Towa and Mira, and they're demons from Hell. Supreme Kai of Time says they're also from the future. Towa is Dabura's little sister. Remember the picture I showed you?" 

"Yeah," Tenshi said, nodding along. 

"Dabura is king of the demon realm, so that makes Towa next in line to the throne." 

"That sure sounds familiar," Tenshi said, leaning back on her pillows, but staying upright. 

"Mira is an android Towa created for her own purposes, and he's a strong fighter." 

Tenshi snorted. "So he's her dildo." 

Trunks started to splutter and blush. Supreme Kai of Time looked scandalized. 

"What the hell makes you say that!?" she demanded. 

"Heh. Get it? For her own purposes? Dildo? Best next thing for vaginas and assholes?" 

She waited for Supreme Kai of Time to look like she got the joke. 

"Is Towa like me and only has one of those or do you not have a sense of humor?" Tenshi asked. 

"There is no room for such vulgar comments!" Supreme Kai of Time shouted. 

Tenshi sighed. 

"A prude and a virgin. Great. I guess there's no comedy clubs in TokiToki either, huh?" 

Trunks was blushing so hard and stammering so much and was so flustered that by the time he could finish a sentence, he had forgotten what he was going to say about Towa and Mira. 

"What was I going to say?" 

"We were _going_ to talk about how Towa and Mira are messing with time to collect dark energy from the universe's strongest fighters in different points of time, and that if they collect the energy, it will make the power balance between Heaven and Hell tip, leading to the destruction of the world as we know it. It's really, really bad." 

Tenshi nodded, taking note of that. 

"Now, for the next topic of conversation...." Supreme Kai of Time said. 

Trunks's blush was fading away and his original pale color was almost entirely back. 

"Supreme Kai of Time? I really disagree that she somehow tricked the Dragon. She must be the strongest fighter in the universes. The Dragon wouldn't make a mistake like that." 

It took Tenshi a moment to realize what they were talking about. She tightened her fists. 

"Excuse me?" Tenshi said, standing up. She was so much taller than Supreme Kai of Time, without even trying. Her shadow was laying atop of the Kai. "What are we talking about exactly?" From her tone of voice, it was obvious she knew what she was being accused of. 

Supreme Kai of Time gave her a serious look. 

"She couldn't take on the Ginyu Force, and they aren't nearly as strong as Frieza or Cell or Buu. There's no way she's what we ordered." 

"The Dragon doesn't make mistakes, though. She has to be, it must just be a matter of unlocking her potential, like with Gohan." 

"She'll have to prove it then. Or we'll have to send her back and try again." 

Tenshi stared down at Supreme Kai of Time, eyes wide. 

"What . . . did you just say?" 

"Prove that you're really the strongest person in all of the known universes, or I'll send you back where you came from. When I figure out where that is...." 

Glowing yellow aura and blond spiky hair, red and purple blood raining down from his fists. Daddy's screaming, then silence as his head is crushed in the monster's palm. Blood and brain oozing between the monster's fingers. Father being ripped right in half. Videl's dead body thunking to the ground, unmoving. Pan's screaming. 

Tenshi didn't respond as Supreme Kai of Time walked away, her high heels clacking on the floor. Trunks watched her go, then looked up at Tenshi. 

"Don't worry, we'll prove it to her together, okay? I know you have it in you.... Tenshi?" 

Bright blue eyes glaring down at her as she started to vanish. The monster would have killed her just as surely as he had killed Daddy and Videl and Pan and everyone else.... They'd send her back to her death.... 

"Hey." 

Trunks placed his hand on her arm, and she looked down at him. 

His eyes were blue, but not the same shape, and that was the only reason she didn't fly off the handle. 

"Are you okay?" 

She spoke in a very small voice. 

"I don't want to _die_." 

Trunks took her hand into both of his. 

"And you won't. I'll help you prove it, I promise. I know you have it in you. Okay?" 

She nodded, slowly, but it did nothing to assuage her fears.


	8. Lord Frieza

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter contains flashbacks that detail fostering/encouraging of prejudice and stereotypes towards the human race and genders as a whole. A.K.A. detailing the beginnings of learned racist and sexist behavior and attitude.

The next alteration in the timeline happened too quickly. Trunks ran to the Time Vault, Tenshi chasing after him. She was still bandaged and not at her best, but she didn't want to be the last one to figure out what was going on. 

She had no idea where any of the other Time Patrollers were, she had seen plenty of them when she was wandering around TokiToki.... Did they not know about the time shift? 

"How do you know it's changing already?" Tenshi called after him as they ran across the grass to the Time Vault. 

"My scouter is a special build that alerts me to every time change! The others don't have it!" 

"And Supreme Kai of Time?" 

"Bigger things to worry about!" 

"Bigger?" 

Tenshi wasn't sure if that was possible, but she didn't get an answer as they rushed into the Time Vault and witnessed what the time change was. 

"Oh no! Everything's happening too fast! Now Frieza's showing up far sooner than he's supposed to and murdering _everyone_!" 

Tenshi's eyes widened as she recognized Dende. She'd know those eyes anywhere. 

"Dende! Trunks, Dende's the reason I never had serious issues with my healing growing up!" 

Supreme Kai of Time's threat was still at the forefront of her mind, and it seemed Trunks was on the same page as her, despite the panic he was feeling over the time shift. 

"He'd be able to heal you faster and if anything happened!" Trunks concluded, nodding. "I want to go with you, though, just for back-up and for cover. Can you go now?" 

Tenshi nodded. "Let's do this." 

They both grabbed the time scroll, and it teleported them to the battle with Frieza. 

The moment they appeared, there was barely any breathing room to focus on Frieza and think about what kind of attack they wanted to use. 

_Tenshi sat in her school room, bored out of her mind, with Dende's educational text in front of her. It was from years ago, before she was born, but Dende had written a lot of texts since coming to Earth. Mostly about the different species on Earth and how they related to demons and each other. It was pretty interesting, but Tenshi would much rather be sparring.... Dende called on her, and she stood up, then read the passage aloud._

Tenshi got thrown really hard into the ground, and Dende ran over to her. Dende was so small and so young, it was hard to think that this was the same person who, in her timeline, grew up to be a great researcher and educator for the Demon Kingdom. It was hard to imagine him as any kind of adult, with how small he was. Dende healed her, no questions asked, just a tiny thank you for fighting Frieza. 

She wondered if he thought she was just some Namekian he had never encountered before. 

The moment she was all healed back up, she flew back into the fray, clocking Frieza in the face with a kick, preventing him from getting a big blast on Trunks. 

_"The human species is very versatile and full of surprises. But in general, the human female is more resilient, capable of pushing through greater pain than the human male. Humans come in three types: male, female, and intersex. Intersex humans are a small minority, and when humans ruled the land, they cruelly and intentionally altered their bodies to better fit their concept of gender binary. The human female is the one who carries the eggs and produces children, making her the most important member of the species. The human male is designed to provide the DNA necessary for reproduction and little else. They cannot produce milk for the children and had to reinvent their own society to feel the least bit significant and important when compared to the human female. Now that the human patriarchy is dismantled, they are back where they belong on the evolutionary food-chain. This is why human men are used for either manual labor on farms, construction work, and clean-up duty or for sexual pleasure. Whereas human women make ideal warriors and caretakers. There are exceptions to the rule," Tenshi read, then looked up at Dende, waiting for commentary or approval._

_"Can you tell me what those exceptions are?" Dende asked._

_Tenshi smirked. "Some human men are capable of great love and affection for the children they produce with either human women or demons, which can lead to them being good care takers. Some are also capable of being stronger than human women and even rival the strength of demons. Like Daddy."_

_Dende nodded. "But can you tell me what the downside to human men is?"_

_Tenshi pouted a little bit. She knew the answer, but.... "Once introduced to sexual pleasure, the human male has an undesirable tendency to be disloyal, which is why they cannot be taken seriously as more than temporary company and are best suited for the whorehouse."_

_Dende smiled a little. "Very good, Your Highness."_

_"There's always exceptions, though," Tenshi said. "Like Daddy."_

_Dende turned his head, but she could see enough of his face to see the frown. He changed the subject._

Frieza went to his Final Form and killed Vegeta. Goku finally arrived, and once again, Tenshi was really relieved. Tenshi pulled Trunks to his feet. 

"What do we do now? Is it fixed now?" she asked. 

Trunks shook his head. "No, we should stay and help. We'll keep going until the planet's about to explode like it's supposed to."

". . . We're gonna stay on an _exploding planet_!?" 

He hurried past her to continue fighting, so she had no real choice in the matter. It didn't stop her from thinking it was _insane_.

Tenshi flew after Trunks, joining into the fray and distracting Frieza from Goku as he formed the Spirit Bomb. (Tenshi had never seen the technique before, but there was enough shouting about what it was after it was thrown at Frieza.) 

Tenshi and Trunks hung back after Frieza seemed to be gone. 

"Are we done now?" Tenshi asked, crouching behind the big rock. Her eyes were glued to Piccolo and Gohan. Piccolo ruffled Gohan's hair, and Gohan looked so happy.... Her heart ached. She missed her parents. 

"No, there's still - " Trunks started, but then both of them were grabbed by the backs of their throats. Tenshi choked, her air way cut off completely. Trunks gagged, also having trouble breathing, but at least he could make noise. 

Frieza threw both of them out of his way, Tenshi flying head first into the rock structure. She was too dazed to see what had happened to Piccolo, but she could hear Gohan screaming his name. 

Daddy screaming Father's name and flying at the monster that had ripped him in two. The image returned to her eyes before her ability to focus and see what was happening around her came back. 

Krillin was being lifted up into the air, and Tenshi's ability to focus her vision returned just in time to see Krillin explode. Blood and pieces of the human flew everywhere, some of it landing on Frieza's face. Frieza licked it away. It wasn't the grossest thing Tenshi had ever seen, but it was up there. 

Tenshi moved to get up, but the sudden increase in power level from Goku made her pause. Her eyes widened. She had only felt a power level like that before, though Goku's wasn't as high as that monster's.... What was happening? 

The ground was shaking, and the air was thrumming with Goku's energy and power. His eyes - something was happening to Goku's eyes. 

They paled, switching from Goku's natural black to a pale color, and Tenshi froze with fear as she recognized the pale blue color his eyes kept shifting towards. 

No. 

She could see the monster in front of her, huge and bulky and too powerful and angry and _yellow_. 

No. _No_. It _can't be_...! 

Goku reached his Super Saiyan form, and Tenshi's terror went through the roof. He . . . he looked _just like that monster_! 

"Tenshi! Tenshi, we have to - Tenshi!" 

Trunks was trying to get her attention, but she was frozen stiff. Frieza and Goku were starting to fight, and the planet and the air shook and rumbled with the power of their attacks. 

"Tenshi, we have to help Goku!" 

Trunks's words reached her, and she panicked. 

"NO!"

She turned tail and dashed away, speeding as far away from the Saiyan and Frieza as possible. 

Trunks's jaw dropped as she watched her run away. What? But . . . why!? 

He flew after her, but she was going awfully fast. Eventually, though, she ran out of stamina and fell to the quaking earth. She picked herself back up and started to run, but Trunks landed and grabbed her arm firmly. 

"What's gotten into you?" Trunks demanded, turning her so that she could face him. 

She pulled at the grip on his arm and aimed a punch at his face, but he caught the punch in his other hand. 

Trunks's eyes widened as he saw the unadulterated terror in her face. 

"What's wrong? Let me help you!" 

"We can't stay here!" 

Tenshi stopped pulling away from Trunks and moved her hands to his shirt, fisting the fabric and pulled Trunks closer to her. 

"That monster will kill us!" 

"No, Frieza won't, we won't let him! And Goku - !" 

" _I'm not talking about Frieza!_ " 

Shock hit Trunks like an arrow, and tears were starting to roll down Tenshi's face. 

"That _thing_ won't stop until we're all dead!" 

"No, Goku wouldn't - !" 

"YES, HE WOULD, HE'S GONNA KILL FRIEZA AND THEN COME AFTER US!" 

"Why do you think that!?" 

"That's the monster from my timeline!" 

Trunks's mouth fell open. 

" _What_?" he asked, but Tenshi didn't elaborate. 

The tears were rolling down her face too much, and her grip on his clothes tightened. 

"We have to leave, we have to! I don't want to die!" 

Trunks looked over at where Goku and Frieza were fighting. He couldn't see their individual bodies from where they were, but he could sense their power. He then looked back at Tenshi and knew what he had to do. 

"Okay. We're leaving." 

He held onto her hands, and the magic of the time scroll returned them to the Time Vault. 

They fell onto the Time Vault floor, and Trunks got up to check the scroll. It really was back to normal now.... He put his attention back onto Tenshi. 

She had curled herself into a little ball and was crying heavily, from both fear and relief that they were safe. 

He sat down on the floor and waited for her to calm down. It took longer than expected. 

"Do you . . . need me to do anything?" he asked. 

Tenshi coughed and covered her mouth. Some snot ended up flying from her mouth and into her hand. Gross.... 

"I . . . I don't know. I've . . . never felt this scared before in my life, except for . . . ." 

". . . For when you were about to die in your timeline, but I wished for you to come here." 

Tenshi nodded, keeping her head down and not looking at Trunks. 

Both of them were roughed up, but Tenshi didn't want to go back to the medical ward. 

They stayed like that for a while, Trunks watching her as she tried to get a hold of herself. Then he slowly stood up and went to her side. 

"C'mon.... Let's go to my place. It'll be more comfortable to lay there instead of on the marble floor...." 

Tenshi let Trunks pick her up off the floor by offering her his hand and lifting herself to her feet. She still towered over him, what with being twice as tall as him, but her shoulders were sagged and her back hunched over. The usual confidence she exhibited was missing. 

No one was in the area as they walked to the little house outside of the Time Vault, across from the big lake where the bird TokiToki lived. 

Trunks let her into his home, pulling the curtain out of the way, and Tenshi had to duck down quite a bit in order to fit through the doorway. 

Trunks set her up with his fuuton, dragging extra pillows out of his drawers for her. She accepted it gratefully and went back into a curled ball on his fuuton. He made them hot tea and placed it near her. 

It was a while before either of them spoke. 

"So . . . this is your place?" 

"Yeah. It's small, but it's cozy. And it's close to the Vault, in case of emergencies." 

Tenshi nodded. 

"It's nice." 

"Thank you." 

Trunks smiled a little, glad she wasn't crying anymore and was feeling up to talking. 

Slowly, Tenshi sat up and accepted her cup of tea. She drank it slowly, and he drank with her. 

Tenshi thought back to her lessons with Dende about humans. Her eyes lifted to look at Trunks more closely. 

He was much more than manual labor and a cute butt.


	9. Nail and Dende

Trunks was willing to let Tenshi stay as long as she wanted, but Tenshi felt weird doing that. So she drug herself back to her apartment and stayed there for a long while. She tried to meditate, but she couldn't make herself focus without seeing Goku all yellow with those pale eyes.... 

Trunks didn't go to sleep easily that night. He kept thinking about what she had said. Goku . . . had been the monster? Goku had killed her family? Or . . . was it Goku or someone else? Had they been killed by another Super Saiyan? But she had no idea who Vegeta was.... 

Trunks didn't know the answers, and he had a bad feeling about Tenshi and the Super Saiyan form. He wasn't sure what was wrong, exactly.... He had never encountered her reaction before; rather, he had seen people run away from battle in fear, but that was usually at the beginning of the fight, not in the middle when someone on your side achieved an advantage over the enemy. He didn't know enough about psychology to feel comfortable deciding that she had something or not. She did go through something incredibly traumatic.... Losing her family.... 

Trunks sought Tenshi out the next morning, but she wasn't in her apartment. 

He knocked on Harry's door instead. 

"Trunks! What a surprise, what brings you here?" 

Harry was blushing lightly. Trunks didn't notice it much. 

"Do you know where Tenshi went?" 

The blush faded, and Trunks was too preoccupied to notice the shift in facial expression. 

"She slammed her door early in the morning and hurried out. She was wearing a gi instead of that battle suit, so I think she went to train." 

"All right. Thank you." 

Trunks bowed to Harry, then hurried to go find her. Harry frowned, then closed the door and continued getting ready for his day.

He found Tenshi training in one of the dome buildings intended for such an activity. She was training, alone, with a punching bag, bandages wrapped around her fists and wrists to protect them as she wailed on the punching bag. 

Her speed was admirable, but Trunks could pick up little things about her posture and general attitude. 

She was tired. She wasn't feeling any better from yesterday. 

"You're pretty good at melee," Trunks said, stating the obvious. 

Tenshi paused in attacking the bag to look over her shoulder at Trunks. She lowered her fists and straightened her posture. 

"Yeah, well.... Can't use too many ki attacks, after all." 

"Right...." 

The silence between them was awkward - to Trunks at least - but Tenshi filled it with the sounds of her attacking the bag. 

Trunks could feel the eyes of others in the building watching them. It wasn't really often that Trunks entered the actual training buildings. It wasn't that he didn't train, but he so often trained by himself in the yard around his house. They really didn't see him in there at all. So the fact that he was there - and the fact that he was approaching and talking to someone so relatively new and strange to TokiToki - was drawing attention. 

Attention was the last thing he wanted to be on them right then. 

"I understand if you don't want to do time patrols today. In fact, I'd recommend you have the day off. You've been through a lot...." 

Tenshi paused her training for a moment, looking over at Trunks again. 

"Is there anything else with Towa and Mira?" 

"No, not right now. There's always Parallel Quests, but - " 

"Can we visit my timeline again? Please?" 

The way that the word tumbled off her tongue, it sounded like Tenshi really didn't use the word please a lot. 

Trunks found himself blushing a little. He really needed to get a hold of himself. This whole blushing thing was getting ridiculous. And she hadn't even said anything sexual! This time.... 

"Sure, if you feel up to it." 

Tenshi nodded, giving the punching bag one last kick before walking away from it. She grabbed a towel on the way to the showers. 

Indoor plumbing and water irrigation was definitely becoming one of Tenshi's favorite inventions. A hot shower that was quick and didn't need the assistance of another person was a wonderful thing. 

She zapped a non-fighting outfit on, sighing in relief as she savored the soft fabric of her royal attire. She wore a tunic and pants that breathed very well, and the whole thing was a light pink with gold embroidery. She adjusted her diadem, which banded around her head, and she met Trunks at the door of the training building. 

She didn't pay the attention they were getting any mind, but Trunks, in the corner of his eye, saw quite a few of the other time patrollers lean in towards each other and start talking in hushed tones. He furrowed his eyebrows, not sure if he liked that. Though he didn't think they'd spread rumors. Or at least not cruel ones.... 

As they walked across TokiToki to the Time Vault, Trunks mostly watched Tenshi as she walked. The outfit was simple, but certainly wasn't of a specific style that he was familiar with. 

"Did you wear clothes like that a lot back home?" he asked. 

"Yeah," she said, not looking over at him but keeping her eyes on what was in front of her. "It's royal garb, but of the casual variety. I mostly wore something like this, or my training gi or battle suit. There were very rare special occasions I had to attend, and for those, it was this really complicated get-up Nail insisted on. Pan or Daddy always had to help me get into it, and I could never just zap it into existence properly, so even knowing the clothes beam didn't help." 

"Hm.... Clothes beam sounds useful. Is it a type of ki technique?" 

"Nah, it's magic. I can show you sometime how to do it, if you want. It really does cut down on clothes shopping." 

Trunks smiled a little bit, finding the statement a little amusing. 

They reached the Time Vault, and by that point, Trunks was wondering a few things. If Radditz died and Vegeta and Nappa never came to Earth to get the Dragon Balls, then why were Nail and Dende in Tenshi's timeline? Had Frieza at some point targeted Planet Namek for another reason? Had he heard about the Dragon Balls in some other way? 

He supposed they'd find out sooner rather than later. 

Trunks pulled out Tenshi's time scroll, then held it out to her. Tenshi grasped it, and they held on together as it transported them to the next relevant point in Tenshi's timeline. 

They found themselves in a forest once more, and they hid behind trees as they looked around, trying to see exactly what was there. They couldn't see anything immediately, but soon, the sounds of footsteps running through the brush reached their ears. They determined what direction it was coming from, then positioned themselves appropriately so they wouldn't get caught and kept their ki signals low. 

Dende ran into a nearby clearing, and Tenshi saw that he was older than he had been when they had stepped in to fight Frieza, but he still was not the adult that Tenshi had grown up with. He was definitely a child still, and from the look on his face, he was a terrified one. 

Dende ducked and hid in the shrubs. As Dende went into hiding, Son Goku came into view. His clothes were bloodstained, and a wild boar was still in his hands. 

"HEY! GET OUT HERE, YOU COWARD!" 

This was not the face of the man who had come to their rescue on the time patrols. No, this Goku . . . he was bitter, angry. He had clearly been in the middle of hunting when he had come across the small green child. 

Dende must not have known anything about ki signals, because he did not lower it, and Goku found him easily enough. He grabbed Dende and drug him out of his hiding spot, throwing him across the clearing. Dende hit a tree and slid to the ground, whimpering in pain. 

"W-what do you want from me?" Dende asked, his body trembling from fear. 

"Where is Gohan!?" 

"W-who?" 

It was the wrong question to ask. Goku moved faster than Dende could see, and then the small Namekian was crying from the pain of the kick Goku aimed at his gut. 

"DON'T PLAY DUMB WITH ME!" 

Goku then was grabbed by the back of the neck, thanks to a very stretchy Namekian arm, pulled away from Dende and thrown against a cluster of trees. Nail came into view, hurrying to Dende's side. 

No more conversation was exchanged as Nail defended Dende from Goku, who was now even angrier.

Both Tenshi and Trunks could hear Goku's stomach growling. The man was hungry, and that was the only reason Nail had gotten the upper hand and was able to run away, Dende tucked underneath his arm as they escaped. 

Goku punched the ground in frustration, letting out a beastly growl of frustration that echoed through the forest. 

Trunks and Tenshi kept their ki low as they followed Nail and Dende, both of them having the same idea. Nail and Dende would find Piccolo and Gohan at some point, and that was where they needed to be. They paused however, once they realized that it wasn't really them who was moving, but time around them. The forest sped past them, even as they stood still. 

". . . Has it ever done this before?" Tenshi asked. 

Trunks shook his head, watching in awe. 

"No.... Then again, your timeline's scroll hasn't really been expanding at all.... That usually means the world it is involved with is no more.... It's possible this is . . . just how it works now, now that . . . ." 

"Now that everyone is dead...." Tenshi finished for him, frowning. 

The scroll was a history text book. A very interactive history text book. It was just taking them to the right place. 

Their surroundings stopped in their tracks, and they found themselves in familiar wastelands. They took cover behind some rocks as Nail and Dende came back into view. 

Not too much time must've passed since they last saw Nail and Dende, because they still looked rather worse for wear. But their location had changed rather significantly, so perhaps they just kept running into trouble. 

The two Namekians set up camp, and Dende looked like he was close to tears. 

"I miss home, Nail...." 

Nail pulled Dende close and wrapped his arm around him protectively. 

"I do too.... But home isn't safe anymore. And with the ship damaged...." 

Dende nodded. "I know...." 

It just didn't stop the child's tears, and Nail did his best to comfort the boy. 

They were interrupted by the sounds of rocks becoming unsettled near them. They looked up and saw that they weren't alone. 

An eleven-year-old Gohan jumped down from the ledge that he had been standing on, dressed in Piccolo's purple gi. His hair was long and tied back in a ponytail. It was the longest hair Tenshi had ever seen, right after that Radditz guy. He stared at them with a blank expression, but he wasn't emitting any kind of threatening vibes. But the blankness of his expression was unnerving. 

Nail got up and pushed Dende behind him, getting into a fighting stance. Trunks wondered how many negative experiences they had had with the Earthlings at this point, just how long it had been since they encountered Goku, if Goku was their first encounter with Earthlings. It had to have been quite a bit for this to be the default reaction from someone as peaceful and kind as Nail. 

Gohan did not advance on Nail. 

"Mr. Piccolo!" 

Piccolo appeared behind Gohan, startling Dende and Nail. Piccolo's eyes widened as he saw that they were also not human. 

"What should I do with them?" Gohan asked, his expression still blank. 

Piccolo thought about it for a bit, then put a hand on Gohan's shoulder. 

"Leave them be for now. I'll see what they want, and we'll make firmer decisions then." 

"Yes, sir." 

Gohan fell back a little, until he was just as much behind Piccolo as Dende was behind Nail. Dende peeked out from behind Nail, eyes wide as he looked the other Namekian up and down. Nail was also shocked, mouth falling open. 

"You're - you're one of us!" Nail said. "There's actually another one of us on this planet!" 

Piccolo smirked a little bit. "I take it you've run into a lot of those horrid humans." 

"Humans? Is that what they are?" 

Piccolo actually laughed. "Come with me. We can discuss this more in our cave. About who you are and why you're here." 

Nail and Dende hesitated, looking at each other. They weren't sure.... 

"We escaped from our home because a warlord came and took over our land. It's now their property, and many of our people died...." 

"We escaped with others, but we got separated and landed here...." Nail said. 

Piccolo's eyebrow raised more. "Landed?"

Nail and Dende were rather perplexed by the question, but they hadn't a moment to ask about it because Gohan chose then to speak up. 

"Mr. Piccolo?" Gohan asked. 

"What?" Piccolo said, an edge to his voice. 

Gohan flinched a little bit, but not overly noticeable to Nail and Dende. However, it stood out to Trunks. As far as Tenshi was concerned, it was normal behavior for Gohan, and she was blind to what it indicated. 

"Should I prepare tea for our guests?" 

Piccolo thought about it, then nodded. 

"Yeah, that's a good idea. Good thinking, Gohan." 

Gohan smiled, his blank expression finally breaking, and the amount of happiness and relief that was there was unnerving, even to Tenshi. 

"Make it roobois with almond and mallow flowers," Piccolo said. 

"Yes sir!" 

Gohan hurried off to the cave, and Piccolo walked closer to Nail and Dende. 

"I'm Piccolo, the Demon King. I rule these wastelands. And your name?" 

"Uh.... Nail. And this is Dende...." 

Dende voiced the question Nail had. "What's a . . . demon?" 

Piccolo laughed again. 

"It's what we are, of course.... It's all we'll ever be, to those damn humans." 

In that moment, Trunks and Tenshi understood why Tenshi had never been corrected. Dende and Nail had been under the impression that "demon" _was_ the equivalent word for "Namekian" from this moment on. It made a lot more sense than Nail and Dende just withholding that information. And Tenshi had never asked them where they had come from because . . . because she had had no reason to. 

Piccolo took Nail and Dende to the cave. It became difficult for Tenshi and Trunks to follow and then hide again, but they managed it. 

The cups were clearly stolen or handmade, judging from how chipped and mismatched they were. Gohan poured them their tea, but there were not enough cups for all four of them. Gohan went without. 

Piccolo, however, seemed to have built a reward system for good behavior and jobs well done, because he acquired an apple and gave it to Gohan. Gohan, who had faded into a rather anxious but hopeful state, brightened up further and took the apple from Piccolo. 

"Thank you," he said, ever the polite boy. 

Piccolo ruffled his hair, and Gohan paused in his motions to take a bite. His eyes widened, and he looked positively star-struck as Piccolo finished ruffling his hair and took his hand back. He stared at Piccolo, in awe, for a good minute after, even as Piccolo started to talk to Nail. Dende, however, was watching Gohan, rather curious about the human boy who reacted so differently to the other humans they had had the misfortune of meeting. 

"Since coming here from your home, what have you encountered?" Piccolo asked. 

Nail told Piccolo the stories of their encounters. Apparently not only had they run into Goku, but also descriptions that sounded like Tenshinhan, Krillin, Yamcha - many, many people who would have grudges against Piccolo Majunior. In essence, just because they looked similar to Piccolo, they were accused of working with Piccolo or being companions of his and they responded to them as they would to Piccolo himself. Piccolo absorbed the information without interrupting, judging it all for himself. 

Gohan listened passively, eating his apple slowly and savoring the taste of the fruit. Gohan wasn't underweight, so at least Trunks could assure himself Piccolo had not taken to starving Gohan. He was fearful of what Piccolo had been doing to Gohan in the past seven years. Clearly abuse, but as for the type, Trunks would have to guess emotional, psychological, and physical. 

"Granted, I wasn't there so I can't be sure, but it certainly sounds like you've run into some of our enemies. Son Goku, in particular," Piccolo said. 

"Son Goku?" Nail asked. 

Piccolo nodded. "He killed my father and destroyed his kingdom. I'm aiming to rebuild it, but that goal won't be fully fulfilled until Son Goku is dead. He is the only one who is capable of defeating me." 

Gohan swallowed his bite of apple and frowned darkly. 

Dende spoke up, seeing Gohan's expression. 

"Has he killed your father too?" Dende asked him. 

Gohan clearly wasn't used to anyone other than Piccolo addressing him directly. He jumped, and his eyes darted to Piccolo, unsure of what to do. Piccolo gave Gohan a nod, then gestured his head towards Dende. 

Gohan swallowed, then looked at Dende properly for the first time. 

"No. Son Goku is my father...." 

"Goku and his wife abandoned Gohan long ago. He's been my charge ever since," Piccolo explained. 

The shock in Nail and Dende was obvious. 

"They _abandoned their child_?" Nail said, outraged. 

"How could anyone do such a thing?" Dende said, moving his arms too much as he spoke. The tea sloshed out of his cup. He looked down and saw what he did. "Uh oh...." 

Gohan quickly got up and poured Dende more tea. 

"Ah, thank you!" Dende said, embarrassed. 

Gohan paused, bringing the teapot up so that it stopped pouring. He blushed heavily, then ducked his head and moved back to where he had been, picking his apple back up and making himself look as small as possible. Dende stared at Gohan, wondering if he had done something wrong. 

Piccolo smirked. 

"Gohan's shy and hasn't really interacted with anyone other than me before. We get the occasional traveler or hunter, but we ordinarily don't trust strangers," Piccolo explained. He turned just enough so that he could look at Gohan properly. "But he's a good boy who always does as he's told and an excellent martial artist. He's completed my lessons for him well." 

Gohan lifted his head up some, enough to look at Piccolo and show that he was blushing still. 

Piccolo turned to look back at Nail and Dende. 

"The two of you are welcome to stay with us. Gohan could use the companionship, and I need a new sparring partner. Gohan and I know each other's moves so well that sparring's become quite predictable. And you'll need to keep your skills sharp if we're going to make those humans pay for what they've done to us." 

"You mean . . . you want us to help you get revenge?" Nail asked. Piccolo nodded. "I . . . don't know about wanting revenge...." 

"Why not? They attacked you and your son." 

"Dende's my brother," Nail corrected, flushing purple. 

Piccolo waved his hand, as though pushing that detail out of the way. 

"My point still stands. They attacked you for no good reason, and they'll continue to do it. Revenge is ultimately unavoidable, since they'll do nothing but hound you now." 

Nail and Dende looked at each other, weighing their options. 

". . . All right. We'll stay with you, and I have no objections to sparring with you. But I still don't think we're interested in revenge." 

Piccolo smirked. 

"Have it your way." 

At that point, the time scroll decided that was enough, and it took Trunks and Tenshi back to the Time Vault. 

They landed on their feet in the Time Vault this time.

Trunks was shaking with rage. His teeth were gritted, and his hands were balled into fists. Tenshi turned her head to look at him, and neither of them said anything at first. 

After a long silence, Tenshi spoke up. 

"It's their own fault for attacking Nail and Dende." 

She understood now that the four of them must've killed Goku. She had never known her grandparents, and the kingdom was definitely put into place.... She didn't know the details, but she did know that victory had been theirs, and that it had come around the time of the Cell Games. 

Trunks made a sound that seemed like he wanted to snap at her, but he reigned himself in. 

"Your father is manipulative and a liar!" Trunks said, turning to face her. "How can you defend him!?" 

Tenshi frowned. 

"It wouldn't have been so easy to convince them if Goku and the others hadn't been so unreasonable." 

"And what about Gohan!?" 

Her frown deepened, and her eyes darkened. 

"What _about_ Daddy?" 

"You saw how he was acting! He was _terrified_!" 

"He was a little unsocialized. He wasn't acting all that different from how he normally does." 

The anger simmered down a little - just a little - in Trunks as he realized that of course Tenshi wouldn't be as angry as him. For the same reasons he was so angry. Piccolo had been manipulative and a liar and an abuser. He raised Tenshi. Tenshi was brought up in a home where it was normal. Where Gohan's actions in response to abuse were normal. 

He . . . he had to accept that Tenshi would not see this in the same way as he did. 

"Does - does it at least make you uncomfortable?" Trunks asked. 

Tenshi looked away from him. 

". . . It . . . is weird that Daddy's personality isn't shining through like usual.... I wouldn't have ever described him as shy...." 

Trunks took a deep breath, trying to be an adult about the situation. There really was nothing they could do.... History was history.... 

"How would you have described him?" 

Tenshi's frown looked more uncertain and confused rather than upset or annoyed now. 

"Daddy . . . Daddy was devoted, always, but he was never afraid to speak his mind when it mattered.... He was the only one who knew how to change Father's mind after he had made his decision.... He never . . . . He didn't cower often." 

Trunks took note of the change in her statement, going from never to not often. 

He frowned. Had . . . had she ever witnessed Piccolo being cruel to Gohan and needed to justify it in her head? Whether to keep her piece of mind or because she was too little to understand or even to protect herself? 

He then felt bad for getting angry at her lack of anger. 

"I'm sorry," he said. 

Tenshi looked back at him. She didn't acknowledge the statement. 

"Is there . . . anything to do around here that . . . isn't fighting or time travel? I've gotta clear my head, and it looks like you do too." 

Trunks gave it some thought, then realized he really had no idea. 

"Um.... I actually can't think of anything. I . . . I've been here so long and I've been so focused on my work, I . . . I guess it slipped my mind to find out." 

Tenshi raised an eyebrow at him. "Seriously?" 

Trunks rubbed the back of his head. She shook her head, starting to smile. 

"You're such a dork. I'm sure we can find something, though. Just a matter of looking around. There any way to get out of TokiToki and see the rest of Otherworld?" 

"Yes, there is, but usually only Supreme Kai of Time uses it." 

"Is she the _only_ one allowed to use it?" 

"Uh...." 

He thought about it, but he honestly had no idea. It hadn't occurred to him - or anyone else? - to ask. 

"That's not a yes, so let's go use it. I hope we find a whorehouse." 

Trunks gave her an exasperated look. 

"Is sex all you think about?" 

She grinned at him. 

"No, but it's my favorite form of stress relief. Then again, there's a bunch of tech I don't know about, so maybe you'll introduce me to something just as good." 

"Maybe," he said. He wasn't exactly sure how good sex was, so he wasn't sure if he had anything in mind that _would_ be better. 

"Or we could get _you_ laid. That sounds fun, ha ha!" 

"How 'bout not?" 

They left the Time Vault after putting the scroll in a safe place. They headed for Supreme Kai of Time's exclusive access to Snake Way, Trunks leading the way. Others watched them go, but no one asked where they were going. 

When Trunks unveiled Supreme Kai of Time's collection of cars from across worlds and timelines, Tenshi burst out laughing at how ridiculous some of them looked. 

"Snake Way is really long, and these are super-powered via magic, so this way neither of us will spend too much energy just wandering around," Trunks said, feeling nervous. Should they really be doing this? This was Supreme Kai of Time's property, not theirs.... 

"This is amazing. I really like the bug car." 

"Volkswagon?" 

"Whatever. Let's take that one!" 

"Are we sure we should?" 

"You yourself would've said if it was against the rules," Tenshi said, getting into the car. Trunks found the keys. 

"That's true...." 

"And it's not like we're gonna wreck it or anything. You know how to drive it, right?" 

"Yeah...." 

"Then c'mon!" 

She was looking much better than before. Her eyes were gleaming with mischief. 

Trunks didn't understand what was getting into him. But with that smile, he found himself getting behind the wheel, putting the key into the ignition, and turning the car on. 

This was _such_ a bad idea.


	10. Otherworld

Trunks really had not explored the area outside of TokiToki all that much, but compared to Tenshi, he was a certified tour guide. As they drove along Snake Way, he pointed out all the planets along the way and the different routes they could take and where they went. 

"But it's rude to drop in on other Kais without an invitation, so it's best not to bother them," Trunks said as he pointed out the roads to the North Kai, South Kai, West Kai, and East Kai. 

Tenshi looked around, wide-eyed. 

"This place is so big...!" Tenshi remarked. 

Trunks wasn't having trouble with knowing Tenshi was a woman and using the right pronouns and thinking of her as a woman, but sometimes the voice still caught him off guard. He kept forgetting just how deep it was, though it wasn't like she was quiet. It was just every time she spoke after a period of not speaking, he seemed to forget between each conversation. 

He silently made a resolution to get over that as best he could. He imagined that it would bother her if she knew he kept thinking that her voice would sound higher pitched, despite not ever hearing her use a higher-pitched voice at all. 

"Seriously, how big is this place?" 

"I'm . . . not really sure. It contains pretty much everyone who had ever lived and then some.... Technically Hell is a different location, but it's beneath the clouds. And Hell has a portal to the Demon Realm.... It's a little complicated, and I don't know all the details - it's above my pay grade - but - " 

"Speaking of pay grade, _do we_ get paid?" 

"Oh, yeah, you'll be getting your check very soon in your P.O. Box in TokiToki." 

"I have a P.O. Box?" 

Trunks nodded. "I'll show it to you when we get back." 

"Okay.... What is a P.O. Box?" 

Trunks tried not to laugh, but the fact that she knew about some stuff but not other stuff that he took for granted and had been invented before quite a bit of the stuff she did know about was funny to him. 

He failed to not giggle. 

"Hey!" 

She shoved him, and that made his hand push on the steering wheel, and they almost went off Snake Way. Trunks panicked, then righted the car, and Tenshi laughed at the look on his face. 

"It's not funny! We could've been stuck in Hell!" 

That didn't stop Tenshi from laughing, and Trunks was stuck pouting for the rest of the drive. 

Eventually, they reached the place where Trunks knew a movie theatre was. 

Quite a few of the Kais did enjoy a good movie, and the number of living people in Otherworld - and dead people - who missed things like movies and radio and TV made sure that there was plenty of places to do such things. Trunks had no idea what was playing, but he was sure they'd find something, something that hopefully they'd both like. 

"Ooooooh!" Tenshi hopped out of the car and stared up at the building. "Cool! It's been a really long time since I've seen one of these!" 

"Which one was it?" 

"I don't even remember, I just know me and Pan were little! That was the weekend we also went to the amusement park in Metro West and - " 

She seemed to have remembered something, then abruptly started a different sentence. Trunks didn't press. 

"And I remember it being really fun!" she said instead. "So what's playing?" 

Trunks walked up with her to the ticket booth. 

"Let's see.... Vampire movie, monster movie, superhero movie, sci-fi.... Romantic comedy." 

Tenshi snickered a little. 

"Definitely not the romantic comedy, too hit or miss and this ain't a date," Tenshi said.

Trunks blushed a little. "Right! Definitely not. Um.... Oh, I think I recognize the monster movie. Have you ever seen the original Godzilla?" 

"Nnnope." 

Trunks smiled. "Let's see that one, then. Fire-breathing giant lizard destroys all." 

"Sign me the fuck up, that sounds _awesome_!" 

Trunks paid for the tickets, then they went inside and Trunks bought a snack for him (one of those expensive-for-what-it-is meals they sold in movie theatres) and a large tea for Tenshi. Tenshi blew on it to cool it as they sat in their seats in the theatre.

The movie was certainly entertaining, though Tenshi wondered how old it was. The movie she had seen all those years ago had had better effects, but it was still enjoyable. She looked over at Trunks a couple times, and he seemed rather engrossed in it. She got a little distracted with how politely and cutely he was eating his food. She had seen humans (and Saiyans, considering Daddy's genetics) eat before, but it had always been in a more messy, impolite fashion. Despite being a very polite man, Daddy's eating habits were positively gross. Pan wasn't any different, and Tenshi normally just avoided hanging out with them when they were eating. But Trunks ate with his mouth closed, and she couldn't really hear the chewing, and he swallowed before taking another bite or before speaking when Tenshi leaned over to whisper a question. And when he realized there was some food sticking to his mouth, he took out a napkin from his little cardboard box and wiped his mouth. 

Tenshi had never seen a human do more than wipe their faces clean with the back of their hand, and she had always thought it was super gross, so witnessing Trunks eating and being clean about it almost distracted her from the movie entirely, but then stuff blew up and her attention was brought back. 

At the end of the movie, they threw their trash away and walked out of the theatre. 

"That was really cool!" Tenshi said, putting her hands behind her head. 

Trunks smiled. "I'm glad you liked it. I had seen it before, but I noticed a few things I hadn't picked up on last time." 

"What do you want to do now?" 

"Hmm.... Well. I could use some new clothes...." 

"Hm?" 

"There's a shopping district this way." 

Tenshi followed him as they walked, and soon Tenshi found herself in a building with architecture she didn't recognize at all. (It was a WALMART type building, big and warehouse-y and not very decorative inside or out.) But it had literally anything they could want: food, clothes, toys, machinery, potted plants, books, everything. And the building was huge. 

It took a while to find the clothes section. Trunks went in one direction, but Tenshi got distracted by a hat rack. 

She never took her diadem off, but sometimes she was curious about other head wear. 

She picked a blue fedora out and put it on, then looked in the mirror at it. She grinned at herself. It was super cute. 

"Hey! Trunks! Look!" 

He blushed a little as he failed to hide the fact that he was there to get new underwear, but he soon focused on what it was that she was showing him. He smiled at her. 

"That looks really cute." 

"I know, right?" 

"Want me to buy it for you?" 

"Sure! I'll pay you back for it." 

The movie and tea would be on him, but as she answered him in this moment, she remembered that he wasn't working for him and it'd be rude to make him pay for everything, especially if her paycheck was coming in soon. 

It dawned on her then that the working life was a step down from her royal status, but she figured she didn't have a choice in the matter. And it was better to adapt to the situation at hand. 

As they went to the cash register, there was a group of aliens - three total - shorter than Tenshi but a little taller than Trunks. There seemed to be an issue with payment. They were talking amongst themselves, then a glowing occurred and the three split into six. Tenshi's and Trunks's eyes widened. The six aliens paid them no mind as they pulled out their wallets and counted their money. They seemed to have enough for buying what they had, so they handled it. Each one was now just a bit smaller than Trunks. 

"How'd you do that!?" Tenshi blurted out. 

The aliens turned around to look at them. 

"Fusion," one of them responded. 

"Fusion technique." 

"Advanced mystical martial art technique." 

"Metamoran technique." 

"Uh.... Are you all Metamorans?" Trunks asked hesitantly. 

All six of them nodded. Once their exchange with the cashier was finished, they grabbed their stuff and ran off. 

"Whoa...." Tenshi said. "Did you notice how their power levels fluctuated when they came apart?" 

"Yeah.... They were definitely stronger when fused," Trunks agreed, setting their items on the counter and pulling out his wallet. 

They didn't really think much more about it on the way back to TokiToki, but Tenshi did find it rather fascinating. When they got back, Trunks worked on parking the car so that it looked like it hadn't gone anywhere, and Tenshi sought out one of those little robots. 

From the robot, Tenshi learned that the Metamorans were a species native to Otherworld and that their planet was located in the Southern Sphere, under the watchful eye of the South Kai. Not much was known about their martial art style, but teamwork was a big factor in their culture. 

It was _fascinating_. 

Trunks found her with the robot, asking it a million questions a minute and making it short-circuit. 

"You have to be gentle with computers," Trunks said, his smile looking a little stressed out. "They're not like people, they can't handle a lot of questions all at once or they'll freeze up and need rebooting." 

"Oh. Whoops." 

"It's okay. It's not the _first_ time something like that has happened. Supreme Kai of Time gets way to excited over them...." 

Tenshi snorted. "I can see that." 

Something occurred to Tenshi, and she stood up proper. 

"Hey, um.... Thanks for taking the time to help me." 

Trunks stared at her, a little taken aback by the thank you. 

"No problem. It's the least I can do." 

"Well, I know you're really busy and I haven't . . . really seen you talk to anybody else." 

"Oh. Well . . . don't worry about it. While I'm in charge, I don't really . . . I mean, I'm friendly to everyone, but I don't really feel that close to anyone here, so . . . you don't have to feel bad for that or feel like you're taking me away from anything." 

Tenshi thought about that answer for a moment. 

"So how did you get here? In TokiToki?" 

Trunks took a moment to put his thoughts together. 

"I did something horrible in the past. I selfishly traveled back in time to make my era better. But that changed history and split the scrolls. Since then, others have abused time machines and changed history. Although I was ignorant, I caused the universe to take a step into ruin. Since then, I serve Supreme Kai of Time to atone for my sins." There was a pause, and Trunks seemed to think Tenshi would feel a certain way about that statement, so he quickly added, "But I feel this job is really worth doing! Supreme Kai of Time made TokiToki City as our foundation. Then I brought in the products from my mother's company. It's - it's nice here, isn't it?" 

Tenshi gave him a comforting smile. 

"It is nice here. Could use some improvements, but it's nice here." 

Trunks snorted. "You just want a brothel." 

"That I do." 

He shook his head. 

"What made you want to change your timeline?" 

"There were these two androids, 17 and 18, who killed almost everyone I loved and cared about and destroyed everything. They were the apocalypse, essentially.... For a while, it was just me, my mother, and Gohan.... Then it was just me and my mother. I traveled through time and saved the other timeline, but mine was the same. I then killed 17 and 18 and was able to live with my mother in peace.... Then my mother died, and then I met Supreme Kai of Time. Now I'm here." 

Tenshi took note of that. So it was a crime to alter time.... 

"How different is your Gohan from my Daddy?" 

Trunks seemed to be choosing his words carefully. 

"I'd have to say that I have not seen enough of your dad to be able to judge properly. My Gohan had always been an adult when I saw him. Yours, I've only seen as a child. I'm sure things will change as we continue seeing what happened in your timeline, to better understand it and so you'll know how things are supposed to be in the main timeline by comparing and contrasting." 

Tenshi nodded. 

"Do you want to go back and see what's next? Or is that enough for today?" 

"We can see one more. It doesn't seem like Mira and Towa are up to anything right now." 

Tenshi and Trunks then went back to the Time Vault. 

Neither of them really noticed the sets of eyes watching them the whole time. Harry frowned, wondering why they were spending so much time together compared to everyone else. Trunks never got this attached to new recruits.


	11. Senzu Beans

Tenshi and Trunks knew exactly where they had put the scroll, so it was even easier to find than before. Though if someone who hadn't known what it was, they wouldn't have given it a second thought. It didn't look any different from any of the other scrolls. 

But it was so important to Tenshi because it was hers, and she felt like she'd be able to pick it out from all of them, even if it got mixed up with the others all over again. 

They touched it, and it teleported them to the next relevant point in Tenshi's timeline. 

Tenshi didn't recognize the place at all, but Trunks gasped as he pulled her to hide behind a giant rock. 

"It's the Cell Games!" Trunks said. "And . . . this must not be a timeline where my arrival in the past is relevant. Not only am I not here, neither is Father.... He must never have come to Earth because Radditz was dead and they had no reason to." 

"They didn't care their buddy got murdered?" Tenshi asked. 

"Not really, Father and Nappa were more concerned with the Dragon Balls, not Radditz." 

"Ah." 

They crouched and watched the events unfold. 

Piccolo, Nail, Gohan, and Dende stood on one side of the Cell Games arena, while Goku, Krillin, Tenshinhan, Yamcha, and Chichi stood on the other. Cell was in the middle of the arena, looking back and forth between the two groups. 

"I take it none of you get along," Cell said, smirking a little. "That's very interesting, considering all of you have had the same goal up to this point." 

The two groups didn't even acknowledge Cell for a long moment. Goku and Piccolo glared at each other, and Chichi gritted her teeth, baring them at the green man. Gohan was glaring silently at them at Piccolo's side. Nail's focus was more on Yamcha, Tenshinhan, and Krillin.

Dende looked over his shoulder at the cowering Mr. Satan and his film crew. Mr. Satan had gotten beat pretty bad just a few moments ago. Dende's eyes widened as he noticed another child over there - a girl about his and Gohan's age - who just stepped out of the trailer and ran over to Mr. Satan. 

"Dad!" 

"V-Videl! What're you doing here!? You're supposed to be at home! It's dangerous here!" 

"Are you okay!?" 

The rest of them ignored Mr. Satan and his daughter. 

Cell uncrossed his arms, still looking from one group to the other. 

"So. Who's first?" 

Piccolo smirked. 

"Not sure. It'd certainly be entertaining to watch you destroy these _monkeys_ before we got to a _real_ fight," Piccolo said. 

"What'd you say!?" Yamcha shouted. 

"Ex _cuse me_?" Tenshinhan added, gritting his teeth. 

"Monkey!?" Krillin said. 

Goku and Chichi said nothing. They didn't even look in Cell's direction. (Tenshi had no reference for how strange it was that Chichi was at the Cell Games, but Trunks took note that she must've joined Goku in his martial arts training and continued her own martial arts training in order to one day rescue her son.) 

Cell laughed. "Your sense of superiority is admirable, Piccolo, but I doubt you're stronger than Goku." 

Piccolo's eyes went to Cell, but his smirk stayed in place. 

"Oh? And what makes you say that?" 

"Son Goku is the strongest being on Earth. Dr. Gero's mathematics does not lie." 

"And yet he's been incapable of defeating me properly all these years. He may have won the battle at the Tenkaichi Budokai, but I've kept an upper hand ever since." 

Goku's fists tightened. 

Cell snorted. 

"Using a _child_ against your opponent is not martial arts, and it's not admirable. It's cowardly, and no victory over Son Goku that you've used him in counts." 

Piccolo's smirk fell away, and his eyes darkened. 

He took the turban off and threw off his cape. 

"Mr. Piccolo!" Gohan said, shocked at Piccolo being the first to step forward. 

"Be careful," Nail urged, frowning. He didn't look surprised, however. 

"I thought we were gonna let them fight him first...." Dende said. 

Nail sighed. "Change in plans. Be ready to heal him if anything happens." 

"Right," Dende said. 

Gohan took a step or two towards the arena, but Piccolo stopped him. 

"Stay out of it, Gohan! It's one-on-one." 

"But - !" 

Cell laughed. "Now, now, we haven't approved it passed the others." 

Piccolo growled at Cell. 

"It's fine by me if he wants to go first, Cell," Goku said. "And don't feel like you have to let him live." 

"Oh don't worry. I wasn't," Cell said, grinning at this point. 

Goku, Chichi, Krillin, Tenshinhan, and Yamcha distanced themselves from the ring, but Nail and Dende had to grab Gohan and pull him away. 

The fight was brutal. Piccolo wasn't quite as strong as he was in the main timeline, but neither was Cell. With none of Vegeta's genetics and no one having reached the level of Super Saiyan - due to never going to Planet Namek and fighting Frieza - Goku, Piccolo, and Cell were much weaker than their main timeline counterparts. But in the context of this timeline, that didn't matter. Cell was still stronger than Piccolo, and the difference in their power levels was obvious. But Piccolo was scrappy and didn't back down and was no weakling. 

Gohan, however, looked as though each punch to the gut and kick to Piccolo's person was hurting him and tormenting him, and he trembled with fear and worry. Nail did his best to comfort him, but he might as well have been the wind. 

Nail was too focused on Gohan to notice that the humans had come up with a plan. 

Nail found himself kicked hard in the side and was thrown into a rocky fixture nearby. Dende panicked, but Gohan ran for the edge of the Cell Games arena, ignoring what was happening around him and focusing solely on Piccolo's well being. 

It was Goku who had kicked Nail away from Gohan, but it was Krillin, Yamcha, and Tenshinhan who ganged up on Nail and kept his attention. The three fighters didn't let Nail have any breathing room, and Nail did his best to fight them off. 

"Nail!" Dende cried, trembling. 

Goku and Chichi left Dende alone, but now they were all the closer to their son. Physically, at least. Mentally, Gohan couldn't be further from them. 

When Cell beat Piccolo down, Nail was beat as well and fell to the ground, hard. He lost consciousness, and only then was Dende allowed to run to him. Without giving it further thought, Dende immediately went to healing Nail. Tears running down Dende's face, he turned his head to glare at the humans. 

"What was that for!? You're the ones who were all about the one-on-one and honorable fighting crap! Nail wasn't even fighting!" 

"D-dende, no," Nail managed to say, still weak but regaining consciousness. 

"Nail, it'll be okay!" Dende said, trying to comfort him. 

"No, it's not that. It was a trap. They know you can only heal one person at a time...." 

Dende didn't understand what Nail was saying right away, but when it dawned on him, he felt sick to his stomach. 

"Spending energy to heal me means you can't heal Piccolo, and Piccolo is the one they really want out of the way." 

"PICCOLO!" Gohan screamed as Piccolo hit the ground, unmoving and unconscious. Gohan ran to Piccolo as Cell touched down on the ground. 

"How disappointing," Cell said. "And he's supposed to be the all mighty Demon King?" 

"Piccolo! Mr. Piccolo!" 

Gohan turned Piccolo over to look at his face better. He bent down and pressed his ear to Piccolo's chest, trying to listen for his breathing. His panic rose as he failed to hear anything. 

"NO! MR. PICCOLO!" 

Tears were running down Gohan's face now, and his little heart was beating too fast due to the adrenaline triggered by his panic. Piccolo was all he had! Piccolo was the only thing protecting him and taking care of him! Without Piccolo he - he - he - !

Tenshi tensed as she felt the familiar thrumming of energy through the air. The air and energy she associated with the Super Saiyan now. Oh no.... 

"Daddy?" Tenshi said, her tone taking on a fearful sound. 

Trunks put his hand on her shoulder, trying to be comforting. 

"He won't hurt you," Trunks assured her. "They don't know we're here." 

Tenshi nodded, but that didn't stop her grip on the rock from tightening. 

" _PICCOLO!_!" Gohan screamed, and his hair went from black to yellow. His aura thrived, and his power level sky-rocketed. 

It shocked everyone: Cell, Goku, Chichi, Krillin, Yamcha, Tenshinhan, Nail, Dende. But all Gohan was aware of was that Piccolo was hurt and maybe dead and it was _all that giant cicada monster's fault_! 

Gohan flew at Cell in a monstrous rage, and Cell found himself unable to handle the power of a Super Saiyan. 

The fight didn't last long. Between breaking Cell's body in more places than they could count and firing huge ki blasts, Cell's body soon stopped existing, even in the smallest of cells. 

Gohan achieved it through martial art techniques, but also his brain jumping from one thing to the next, due to adrenaline and fear and anger and grief. The desperation that came with Piccolo going down was really was destroyed Cell in this instance. 

After Cell was destroyed, Gohan went back to Piccolo, his body still giving off energy and his hair still very much yellow and his eyes that pale blue color. 

Tenshi hid her face in Trunks's coat, unable to watch her dad be in that form without feeling like she needed to run away. It seemed easier to stay in one place if she couldn't see those blue eyes. 

"Dende!" Gohan screamed. "Dende, help him!" 

Dende stood up from his spot on the ground, Nail pulling himself to his feet as well. 

"I - I can't! They tricked me! I - I healed Nail and - and you know it takes me a while to do it again!" Dende said. 

"THAT'S NOT GOOD ENOUGH!" Gohan screamed, sounding increasingly hysterical and unable to think straight. "HE'S DYING!" 

"But not dead yet," Goku said, calmly. 

Gohan turned his eyes to look at Goku, anger and fear still pumping through his body. 

"We have something called senzu beans. They rejuvenate you and restore you to your full health." 

"R-really?" Gohan asked, voice trembling. 

"Why should we believe you?" Nail said, ever protective of the children. 

Goku handed some to Krillin, Tenshinhan, and Yamcha, who had been rather beat up from fighting Nail, despite winning. Gohan's, Nail's, and Dende's eyes widened as their wounds were healed in a matter of seconds. 

"Believe me now?" Goku said. He turned his head back toward Gohan. "I'll give you one for him, but in exchange for something." 

"What is it!? I'll do anything!" 

Gohan's tears were flowing freely. He didn't care how pathetic he looked. 

"If I give you the senzu bean for Piccolo, you leave these demons and come home with me and Chichi. You belong at home with us, your family." 

Dende glared at Goku, as did Nail. They remembered what Piccolo had told them. 

Gohan seemed torn. Leave Piccolo to save Piccolo? He gave it a lot of thought, weighing the pros and cons of the decisions available. 

"Okay! I'll do it! I'll go with you! Just save him, please!" More tears were rolling down Gohan's face, in bigger streams. "I'd rather he be angry at me than dead!" 

Goku gave Gohan what he meant to be a comforting smile, but to Gohan, it looked like he was rubbing salt in the wound. Goku walked over to Gohan and gave him the senzu bean. Gohan helped Piccolo eat it, and he watched as Piccolo swallowed. 

The Super Saiyan form cut out, and Tenshi lifted her face from Trunks's coat arm to continue watching. 

Goku took hold of Gohan's arm and started to pull Gohan away, just as Piccolo was opening his eyes. 

"Piccolo - !" Gohan said as he was getting pulled away. 

Piccolo sat up, watching Gohan get taken away. 

"What's happening?" Piccolo demanded. 

"We saved your life," Chichi said. "In exchange for Gohan back." 

Piccolo narrowed his eyes, and he got back to his feet, but he didn't try to stop Goku and Chichi. 

"I'm sorry - !" Gohan begged, tears still rolling down his face, but not as much now. The relief that Piccolo was alive took away much of his fear. Now he was only afraid of Piccolo's reaction. 

Piccolo was frowning. 

"Gohan. I'm trusting you on this." 

Gohan's eyes widened, and there was a pause in the tears. 

"Mr. Piccolo - ?" 

"I'm trusting you know what to do, and I'm trusting you know you're way back. Understand?" 

Gohan nodded, his fear dying fully and being replaced by a swelling in his chest. He couldn't describe it very well, but he felt like he could describe it as feeling loved. 

"Yes, sir." 

Piccolo did nothing as the humans took Gohan away, and Nail and Dende stood nearby and only walked closer after they had left. 

"What now?" Nail asked. 

Piccolo turned his head towards Mr. Satan, Videl, and the rest of their group. 

"You two go on ahead home. I'll be right there. Dende needs rest." 

Nail nodded, agreeing with him, then picked Dende up and flew away. 

Piccolo approached Mr. Satan's group, a fire starting to burn in his eyes. 

Trunks was astonished by the amount of cruelty and bloodshed Piccolo was capable of in this moment, murdering Mr. Satan and the adults that were a part of his group in front of Videl. Her white shirt was stained with their red blood as Piccolo towered over her. 

"I am not going home empty-handed," Piccolo said. 

Videl tried to run away, but Piccolo knocked her out and carried her away. 

Tenshi wondered how Piccolo explained that to Nail, but she felt like she already knew the answer. 

_"Dende? How did we get Videl?" little six-year-old Tenshi asked her teacher._

_"Back when the kingdom was still in its beginning stages, humans would be cruel to their children all the time and abandon them after their cruelty. Piccolo then took them in and looked after them. That's how Gohan and Videl came to work for your father."_

_"And then they grew up and dedicated themselves to Father?"_

_"That's what Gohan says, isn't it?"_

_"Yup!"_

_"Then that's what happened."_

The scroll took them back to the Time Vault. Tenshi realized she had been grabbing onto Trunks's coat rather tightly, then let go of it. 

The relaxation from the movie and time on the town in Otherworld was gone. She felt tense and frazzled. 

Trunks watched her and her expression as she tried to calm down and process what she had seen. 

"Are you okay?" Trunks asked, trying to keep his own temper under wraps. He'd need some serious training done after this. The Piccolo from her timeline . . . he was evil. And watching him do evil things and not being able to do anything about it without committing a worse crime than Piccolo was maddening. 

"I . . . I've been lied to my whole life about how our kingdom was built.... I was told Videl came to us willingly, that she wanted to be a part of our family.... That . . . that was . . . ." 

Tenshi punched the wall. It cracked. 

" _That was my Mama Vi, and she's kind and good and didn't deserve to watch her family die!_ " 

She stormed out in anger, and Trunks let her go. He didn't think he had it in him to comfort her right now, and he felt she needed to be alone anyway. 

He did too.


	12. Saiyan Blood

Angry with the reality of the timeline, Tenshi and Trunks threw themselves into their training with frustration and brute force, separately and in different locations. 

Trunks sought out one of the more experienced Time Patrollers - Hakusa - and asked if she'd be willing to spar. She took him up on the offer. Hakusa was a hard-hitter and always up for a battle. They went to the big yard in front of the Time Vault for their sparring session, and a small group of people followed, wanting to watch. 

Tenshi threw herself at the punching bag in the training building, attracting some stares from those who were not actively working on their own training. She provided a decent distraction from fetching water as she decimated the punching bag. Stuffing flew everywhere, and her teeth glinted as she gritted them tightly. 

It wasn't fair! It wasn't fair, it wasn't fair, it wasn't fair! Why did Mama Vi have to be kidnapped!? Why did Mama Vi and Daddy have to be brought together with Father like that!? Why couldn't it have just been the way it was in Dende's stories!? Why!? Why!? Why!? 

Tenshi let out a loud scream as she wailed on the bag. It broke from its metal chain holding it in place, and she continued to punch it across the room. People dove out of her way as she thoughtlessly barraged the bag into the wall, its stuffing and bag skin getting left in its wake. She started to attack the wall when there was no more punching bag, but it bruised and hurt her knuckles, so she stopped. 

"Shit!" 

She looked at her knuckles, glowering at the quickly forming bruises. 

She moved to run cold water over her knuckles. 

She turned her head to see the many people staring at her. 

"There a healer in this building?" she asked. 

"Th-there's the medic...." 

Tenshi sought them out and found her easily enough. Getting her to understand why she _needed_ magic healing and not bandages took a while, but the point was eventually gotten across. 

As Tenshi's knuckles were healed fully, a sudden surge of ki took Tenshi to full-blown panic. 

It was the ki of a Super Saiyan. 

Because he was the only one she knew in this place, she searched for Trunks's ki. 

While she knew Trunks was a Saiyan, her brain couldn't put it together that Trunks could possibly be a Super Saiyan. So when she saw that his ki was laying right on top of the ki signal of the Super Saiyan, she sprung to action. 

She ran from the training building all the way to the Time Vault, not letting herself think about what she was even going to _do_ when she got there. Every other part of her told her that he was done for already, there was no way to save him if the Super Saiyan was already on him, that she should just save herself and TokiToki could go fuck itself. But the image of Daddy getting crushed in the Super Saiyan's hands and Father getting ripped in half and knowing Pan had also been ripped in two, that her blood must've fallen in a similar way, that that could be _Trunks's_ demise at this moment - ! 

He was her only friend in this damn place, and she did owe him her life. 

When she got to the Time Vault, however, she didn't see Trunks getting destroyed by a Super Saiyan. 

She saw another Time Patroller, whose name she didn't know, fighting Trunks, the Super Saiyan. 

Her fear did not die down, but it was quickly joined by anger. _That secretive bastard!_

Tenshi was ignored by the crowd that Trunks and Hakusa had gathered around them, and for a while, Trunks was too focused on his fight. But Tenshi's anger grew, and with it, her ki signal, and it drew Trunks's attention towards her. 

His eyes widened, and he made eye contact with her. Tenshi made eye contact with the pale eyes of a Super Saiyan, and the adrenaline pumping through her veins sky-rocketed. She didn't know if she wanted to run away or _kill that son of a bitch_. 

Trunks dropped the Super Saiyan form immediately and quickly lowered himself, feet touching to the ground, but there wasn't any way he could salvage the situation in that moment. The chemicals in Tenshi's brain - and her preception of the event - was already making her impossible to reason with. 

Hakusa was rather confused, but she followed Trunks to the ground and watched him hurry towards Tenshi. 

"Tenshi! I didn't - !" 

" _Get away from me!_ " 

Trunks paused in his advance towards her, taken aback. The rest of the group was looking at them both now, curious and confused as to what was happening. 

"I - I was going to say something about it, I just didn't - !" 

"All this 'Goku's the _good guy_ ' and 'he won't hurt you' when you're fucking _one of them_!" 

"I - I _told_ you I was a Saiyan, I wasn't - let me _explain_ , please!" 

Trunks made a few steps closer and reached out to touch her arm, wanting to try to calm her down, but Tenshi saw the advance towards her as a threat. And she responded as such. 

Tenshi moved so fast the crowd had a hard time following her movements, but while Trunks could follow, he did very little other than block when he could. It had still taken him by surprise - that she would attack him like that and with so much power and with such speed when he was her friend - so Tenshi got in some pretty decent blows. 

She pushed him back, giving him one last kick, which sent him backward, his heels digging into the dirt to keep himself upright. But he hunched over and fell to his knees, coughing up spit and hacking, as though trying not to vomit but just might anyway. He tried to lift his head up, but the blow to his gut hurt like a bitch. His face hurt badly, and he had a feeling he'd develop a black eye. 

"DON'T YOU TOUCH ME AGAIN, YOU DAMN DIRTY APE!" 

A tiny part of Trunks's brain acknowledged that, in any other context, that'd have been a possibly funny movie reference. In context of their situation, however, it wasn't funny at all, and Trunks doubted she had ever seen that movie anyway. 

The response from the others was swift, and Trunks wished he could react faster to stop them from lashing back at her. He knew it wasn't entirely her fault, he knew that the Super Saiyan form triggered panic in her, and he knew that she had been raised to think of his species as lesser. And he knew that there was hope for her, that she could get better, see his species as her equal. It was just . . . whoever had attacked her family just made it all the harder. 

"The hell's the matter with you!?" 

"Just who do you think you are!?" 

Tenshi didn't even pay the admonishments any mind. She was fed up with this place! She hated it here! She hated - she _hated Trunks_ , she hated everything! She just wanted to go home! 

She ran through the group, dodging attempts to avenge Trunks and punching another person as she went along, then passed them and headed straight for the Time Vault. 

"What's he doing!?" one of the Time Patrollers asked. Tenshi couldn't bring herself to care enough to correct them as she ducked through the Time Vault doors. 

"What's _she_ doing, you mean..." Trunks said, slowly getting to his feet. Hakusa was at Trunks's side and helping him. 

"He, she, whatever! Just what's their problem!?" Hakusa said. "Damn, you're already bruising...." 

Trunks poked at the hurting spot around his eye. Yup. Definitely hurt. 

"Just leave her be. Please. No, don't go after her!" 

The Patroller who was about to do just that stopped in his tracks, then turned around towards Trunks. 

"But why? The Time Vault - !" 

"Is not in danger. I know why she chose to go there, time and space is safe. Please . . . leave her alone and . . . just go. Anywhere but here, unless you have a mission. Okay?" 

The Time Patrollers were very, very reluctant to leave their leader, but orders were orders. Hakusa tried to convince Trunks to go to the medic, but Trunks just asked her to leave once more. 

Trunks went into the Time Vault, but Tenshi had already gone.


	13. The House That Son Built

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter warnings are Major Character Death and Gruesome Deaths.

Tenshi found herself at Son Goku's house after she entered the time scroll. She kept her ki low and approached the house. She carefully peered inside and watched as her ears picked up on the words and sounds inside. 

Chichi stood behind Gohan, with Gohan sitting in the chair. She was cutting his hair with a pair of scissors. Goku, on the other hand, was cooking dinner. It had to have been that evening on the same day as the Cell Games. 

Gohan sat in the chair with his fists on his knees, clearly tense. 

"You must not have ever had a haircut since he took you away...." Chichi remarked, not nearly close to finishing. "It'll be quite the chore to sweep all this up when we're done. And so much of this is matted and not well taken care of...." 

Gohan said nothing as she cut his hair. 

"Are you sure you don't have a preference on what you want to eat? I'm making something of everything, just in case," Goku said softly, sounding different from the times when Tenshi had heard him be bitter and cruel and angry. 

"I'm sure," Gohan said, not moving his head or even his eyes. He stayed strangely still in his chair. 

All of a sudden, Tenshi heard the babble of a baby. Tenshi's eyes widened as she realized she had an uncle or aunt at some point. 

Chichi set the scissors down and went to tend to the baby's needs. In the back of her mind, Tenshi wondered who had been looking after the baby while they had been at the Cell Games, but then a giant man entered her view and sat down at the table. 

"It's great to see you again, Gohan. How much do you remember?" 

Gohan lifted his head to look at the giant man. 

"I don't know who you are...." Gohan said. 

"I'm the Ox King. I'm your grandfather. Chichi's my daughter, and she had you and Goten over there." 

Gohan's eyes went to Chichi and the baby for a moment, then went back to the Ox King. He didn't say anything. 

Soon, the food was done and placed on the table, one dish at a time. Chichi finished Gohan's hair cut. She started to sweep it up, but Goku took over for her and let her sit down first. The floor was then clean of hair, and Goku sat down. Goten slept soundly in his crib nearby. 

"Itadakimasu," said Goku, Chichi, and Ox King in unison. 

Gohan furrowed his eyebrows, having never heard such a thing before. He looked down at the food, furrowing his eyebrows. He hadn't . . . ever seen quite a bit of it before. He looked up and watched Goku, Chichi, and Ox King eat with those pairs of sticks.... He looked down and saw that he had a pair of them of his own. But he had no idea how to use them... And he was too hungry to really give it any thought. 

Piccolo had taught him to be polite to others, but these people were keeping him from Mr. Piccolo. And he didn't know how to eat any other way. So he decided to screw it and just eat with his hands. 

Once Gohan started eating, it was hard to stop himself. In all honestly, he was starving. He grabbed whatever he could and just shoved it into his mouth. 

Ox King looked like he was going to try to correct Gohan for a moment, but both Chichi and Goku let the bad table manners pass and silently encouraged Ox King to do the same. There would be time to teach him later. Right then, they just wanted to help Gohan feel comfortable now that he was back home. 

There were a couple moments when Gohan choked on his food, and Goku helped him recover, and eating with his hands with certain foods did create quite the mess to be cleaned up later. He ate a lot - even after he was full - because he honestly didn't know when he'd get this much food again. With Piccolo, he had to hunt everything or gather the materials himself, and he had been rather used to going with just a half-full stomach. This . . . this was very different. 

But he dared not prefer it over being with Piccolo. No. That would be suicide. Piccolo would be so angry with him.... 

Piccolo was trusting that he knew what to do. He was trusting that he'd come back home. 

Gohan couldn't betray that trust. Piccolo believed in him. That was all that mattered. 

Not how kind this woman was. His . . . _mother_. How kind could she be, anyway? To have abandoned him so long ago.... (Even though a tiny, tiny part of him wondered if that was true. But that part was silenced by the rest, by the part of him that was terrified that Mr. Piccolo could read minds. Not that Mr. Piccolo ever claimed to do such a thing, but sometimes, when he'd order him not to do something, it seemed like he could....) 

Not how this man looked at him and fed him and asked if he liked the food all right. It had to be a trap. Son Goku was cruel and evil and killed Mr. Piccolo's father. That meant he couldn't be trusted. He was the enemy. Mr. Piccolo wanted him dead. 

He was not allowed to like these people. They didn't deserve it.

All that mattered was Mr. Piccolo and his overall plan. 

After dinner, Chichi stood up, then placed her hands on Gohan's shoulders. 

"Would you like to get into some fresh clothes? And maybe have a bath?" 

Gohan didn't respond, but he didn't pull away or try to fight her as she steered him out of the room. Goku handled the dishes, with the Ox King's help. 

"He's not very interactive...." Ox King said. 

Goku nodded. "He'll warm up over time, I think.... There's no telling what Piccolo did to him over the years...." 

Ox King frowned. 

"That's true.... Maybe . . . maybe we should call Bulma, see if we can get him professional help or something...." 

Goku shook his head, though Tenshi had no idea what Ox King even meant by professional help, and she wondered if Goku actually knew either. 

"No. It's better if we introduce him to everything and everyone slowly. There's no point in overwhelming him. He's here to stay now. There's no need to rush into anything." 

"I understand that, but it's not like we're geniuses about how the human mind works.... He could be hurt in ways we can't fix." 

"We'll deal with that when the time comes," said Goku. "Right now is not that time." 

Ox King didn't argue any further, but Tenshi could hear little grumblings that told her that he wasn't entirely convinced. 

Tenshi carefully went to find a window to the bath, but while she couldn't see inside, she could still hear Chichi and Gohan. She closed her eyes as she listened to the movements of the water, washing over Gohan's body and splashing down and through his hair. 

"My poor boy.... You're scarred and bruised all over...." 

Gohan said nothing as Chichi continued to bathe him. Her touch was soft and gentle, and she repeatedly made offers to let him scrub his own self, though he consistently looked at the scrubber with suspicion. She did not wash his private area and simply insisted he take the scrubber. He did not do what he was expected to do with it and instead tossed it aside. 

That just wouldn't be washed, it seemed. 

Chichi then helped him dry off, getting the fluffy towels and setting aside new clothes for him. They were too big, seeing that they were Goku's clothes. But they must've been from years and years ago, because there was no way the man could fit in them now. Gohan pulled the clothes on, then stepped out of the bathroom. 

He knew what he had to do.... But how? When? 

He wished Piccolo was there to tell him exactly what to do.... 

"Gohan?" Chichi asked. 

Gohan had been staring at the wall as he thought, spacing out. He turned his head to look at her, feeling out of sorts. 

"Are you feeling all right?" 

Gohan frowned and neglected to answer. After a period of silence, Chichi spoke up again. 

"Would you like to see your room? It's been a long time since we've done anything with it, so anything you don't want or like we can work with. We still have your favorite books...." 

"My . . . room?" Gohan said, eyebrows furrowing. "What do you mean my . . . room?" 

Chichi gave him a comforting smile, then she took his hand and walked him to his bedroom. 

Tenshi followed with her ears, then saw that Gohan's bedroom did have a window she could peer through. She propped herself so she could watch as well as listen, but still not get caught of course. 

She watched as Gohan stood in the middle of the room, looking around. Chichi watched him as well, then she went into the room and picked up a stuffed animal. 

"You used to sleep with this at night to make being afraid of the dark easier. And over here are all your school books, and this bookshelf has the recreational reading.... Your desk with all your pencils and paper for lessons, but also drawings...." 

"I'm not afraid of the dark anymore," Gohan said. 

Chichi smiled, though it looked sad. 

"Right.... You're not a little boy anymore.... You're a lot bigger now.... But you're still just a child, and there's nothing wrong with having some comforts...." 

"Mr. Piccolo says comfort is for the weak." 

Chichi stiffened, but she took a deep breath. 

"And where does Mr. Piccolo live?" 

"We live in a cave," Gohan said. 

"I bet he's just jealous he doesn't have a nice bed and house, then. Goku's the strongest man in the world, and he has plenty of comforts." 

Gohan's eye twitched. 

"Mr. Piccolo is the strongest." 

"Not from what I saw. He's not the one who defeated Cell." 

Gohan turned his eyes onto her. 

"Neither is Goku." 

Chichi smiled at him. 

"You're right. Goku didn't defeat Cell. You did. So that makes Goku, Cell, and you stronger than - " 

"No one is stronger than Piccolo!" 

Gohan gnashed his teeth and glared at her, and Chichi held up her hands in surrender. 

"All right, all right, sweetie.... I'm going downstairs to make some tea. Would you like some brought up here to you?" 

Gohan continued to glare at her. He was right after all, she couldn't be trusted. The kindness and sweetness was an act, it had to be. She was against Piccolo, and that meant she was not invested in Piccolo's or his best interests. 

He opted not to speak to her at all. He turned his head to stop looking at her, and he didn't move from his spot until she had left. She said something about asking him again later. 

He glared at everything in the room. 

He had vague memories of mathematics and reading, but he didn't recognize any of the books or words. He . . . had a vague feeling that it might be useful to keep some of these items, though that brought up questions on how he was going to transport it from this place to Piccolo's cave.... 

He started to worry that he might be gone longer than he wanted to be, and that scared him. What if Piccolo thought he had abandoned him? He couldn't bare the thought. 

Chichi eventually returned with a cup of tea. Gohan had not moved and was staring at the wall, his expression terrified, but he was some place in his head where she couldn't follow. She tried to reach out to him with her voice, but it took too long for her comfort. When he heard her, he snapped his head in her direction, looking startled, and he did not seem to calm down. 

Chichi set the tea on Gohan's desk. 

"It's a relaxing tea.... I know this is very hard for you, so I thought it might help.... I'm sure you're tired, so if you want to sleep after your tea, that's perfectly fine. When you wake up in the morning, I'll make you a good breakfast." 

Gohan started to hear the crying of the baby downstairs. Tenshi could hear Goku moving about to try to get the baby to calm down and see what its needs were. 

"You just relax and get a good night's rest. Heaven knows you need it." 

Chichi approached him and gently brushed the hair out of his face. She leaned towards him to kiss his forehead, but Gohan leaned back out of her reach. She did not insist upon it and instead left him alone once more.

Tenshi waited for the time scroll to fast-forward to the next part of the timeline that was relevant, but it didn't move her forward at all. She was forced to sit through it in real time. 

Gohan sniffed the tea, eyeing it suspiciously. He didn't touch it for a while, busying himself with the book titles and trying to see what he could read versus what he couldn't. While it had been a long time since he had the opportunity to read (and they didn't exactly live in an area where even reading signs was common), he found that he could still read quite a few of the words, even if he had no idea what they meant. He remembered what the letters signified and what sounds they made. He pulled one off the shelf and held it, measuring its weight and looking at the cover, before opening it up and skimming a page or two. 

He looked around the room and found a chest. He opened it and saw it had a bunch of children's toys in it. Seeing no use for them, he took them out quietly (so he wouldn't alert the adults downstairs), then grabbed the books he could manage and brought them to the chest. He put them in it, then took care of hiding the toys where they'd be out of the way and out of sight. 

Tenshi peered a little too much into view to see what he was doing exactly. There was plenty more room in the chest after he moved the books into it. 

Gohan nodded, then closed the chest. 

He went back to the tea and dared to take a tiny taste of it. He had his eyebrows furrowed, but took another sip. Determining it to not be poisoned, he then drank it. 

Gohan did not sleep in the bed. He curled up on a rug on the floor and slept there. 

The moment Gohan heard walking around the house, he woke up, having been in the habit of that thanks to Piccolo not sleeping. When Piccolo finished meditating, it was time to get up. 

Chichi lived up to her word and made breakfast. Gohan's eyes were wide as he saw there was just as much food as last night. The baby fussed, and Goku and Chichi took turns taking care of it. 

"Did you sleep well?" Goku asked. 

Gohan furrowed his eyebrows, confused by the question. 

"I slept," he said curtly. 

There were a lot of items in the house that Gohan just didn't know what they were, and Chichi taught him what they all were. Rice cooker. Iron and ironing board. Oven. Stove. Television. Telephone. Couch. 

The more time went by, the more agitated Gohan got, and the more worried he became that Piccolo was becoming disappointed in him. Chichi and Goku were not blind to it and mostly tried to deal with it in subtle ways. 

Goku encouraged Gohan to go hunting with him, so it was just the two of them in the late afternoon, walking around the forest. 

Goku didn't say anything for a while, but eventually he spoke up. 

"It's going to be okay. I know it's difficult for you right now, but it'll get easier to be away from him." 

Tenshi followed Goku and Gohan quietly, staying plenty of trees behind them. 

Gohan came to a halt, his chest tightening and his eyes glaring at Goku. 

"What would _you_ know?" 

Goku stopped, then turned around to face Gohan. He looked at him with a calm but firm expression. 

"I know Piccolo is a bad man who did a bad thing when he took you away. But I don't know what else he has done, to you.... But he can't hurt you now, and that's a good thing, even if you don't believe me right now." 

" _Piccolo didn't take me away!_ " Gohan snapped. 

Goku didn't react. 

"Then what did he do? What did he tell you he did?" 

"Piccolo saved me. You and that _woman_ abandoned me, and he saved me." 

"If we abandoned you, then why would we want you back?" 

"To hurt him!" 

Gohan was gritting his teeth at this point and his body language was highly defensive and on edge. 

"He needs me and you know it and you took me from him to hurt him!" 

"It'd have been a lot easier to just let him die, than save him and then injure his pride," Goku said, not letting himself get worked up when he knew his son had been manipulated for a long time by a man - no, monster - who hated him and everyone else in the world. 

Gohan refused to examine the logic in that. Piccolo wouldn't lie to him, so Piccolo must've been telling the truth, which meant Son Goku was lying. 

"Besides, what does a big strong man like Piccolo need you for? You're a kid and should be allowed to play and learn like one. Not be at his beck and call doing who knows what...." 

The look Gohan was giving Goku was rather filthy. Goku's expression softened as his thoughts went to places they didn't want to be. 

"You're a kid, Gohan. You should've been here with me and your mother, doing all that learning Chichi had planned and playing games and getting told bedtime stories.... Instead of...." 

"Instead of what!? Instead of brewing tea and treating wounds and fighting androids!?" 

Goku fell quiet, but Gohan was far from calming down. 

"Is that really all that happened?" Goku asked quietly. 

Gohan raised an eyebrow. 

"What's _that_ supposed to mean!?" 

"You really have nothing to say about the way he's hurt you? I know about the scars." 

Gohan's threshold for his anger broke, and his ki rose, and he threw a punch at Goku. 

Goku's technique made it clear he was avoiding trying to hurt Gohan, but Gohan's made it clear he was doing the exact opposite. Gohan's aura pulsed through the air, and his hair was sparking to yellow once more, and Tenshi ducked her head and covered her eyes, but she kept an ear out for the sounds of their fighting. 

The fight ended almost as quickly as it had begun. The air still thrummed with Gohan's Super Saiyan aura, but Tenshi could hear the dragging of a body across the forest floor. 

Tenshi opened her eyes enough to watch as Goku's dead body was pulled along passed her. She stayed low, fearful of breathing or moving. She couldn't be seen. 

Goku's eyes were glassy and unfocused, and Tenshi shuddered. 

Tenshi followed Gohan back to the house, keeping back quite a ways due to being fearful of getting too close to a Super Saiyan. 

Gohan went into the house. Tenshi stayed away from the windows and walls and door. 

She heard screaming, then the snapping of a neck. The baby started to cry. It soon stopped. 

Gohan took a while longer, but it was mostly quiet. There was some banging around with the trunk, and Gohan seemed to be putting more things in the trunk. 

Tenshi hesitated, then slowly approached the window. She peered inside. Gohan was getting a giant knife from the kitchen drawer. Tenshi watched just enough to see Gohan lifting Goku's dead body onto the table and pulling the man's gi top back enough so he could see the neck better. Her eyes widened as she realized what was about to happen, and she ducked her head before she could see it. But she could hear the hacking of the blade into flesh, and she fought the urge to gag. 

She then listened to Gohan throwing up in the sink. His Super Saiyan aura cut out, and Tenshi slowly lifted her head to see what was going on. 

He finished puking, and his body was trembling. He was breathing heavily, hands covered in blood. He coughed a bit, then turned his head around to look at what he had done. 

His face was pale, and he shook more, unable to keep his hands still. 

This was not something he was proud of. Tenshi never knew this was how Son Goku had died. She . . . she had always been told it was a group effort. That . . . that her father had been the one mostly in charge of taking care of that.... 

Gohan wrapped the head up in towels, then put it in a plastic bag, then triple-bagged it, then put it in the trunk. 

He drug the trunk outside, then started to make his way back to Piccolo. 

Tenshi didn't even hide herself, but Gohan was far from noticing unimportant details like a Namekian hybrid from the future. 

Time finally fast-forwarded, and Tenshi found herself back in the wastelands where Piccolo, Nail, and Dende lived. 

Videl's clothes were dirty and torn, and she had a deep frown on her face as she worked on making the healing balm from plants. Piccolo and Nail were beat up and exhausted, and Dende himself was a little worse for wear. 

Piccolo looked up from his glowering at the cave floor when he felt Gohan's ki signal. Videl looked up when she heard the sounds of the trunk scraping against the rocky ground. 

Slowly, Gohan appeared in the cave entrance, the sunlight framing him in the entry way. 

He was no longer shaking, but his expression was blank aside from his heavy breathing. The blood had dried and was caked onto his hands and forearms, and he hadn't bathed since the day he killed them. 

He pulled the trunk further into the cave, then opened it and pulled out the plastic bags with Goku's head in it. 

"I brought things I think you'll like," Gohan said softly. He carried the head over to Piccolo and handed it to him. 

Piccolo took the bag and tried to look inside to see what it was. He couldn't see it properly, but he could smell the blood now. Raising an eyebrow, he took the circular object out of the bag and unwrapped it from the towels. 

Videl and Dende both screamed as Piccolo held up Goku's head by the hair. 

Piccolo grinned wickedly. 

"I knew I could count on you."

"There's other stuff in the trunk...." Gohan said, but his voice trailed off as he spoke, and he started to fall. 

Piccolo moved fast enough to catch Gohan, and he lifted him off the ground. 

"You've done really well, Gohan. I'm proud of you." 

Gohan managed a little smile at that. 

"I bet you're hungry." 

"Yes, sir...." 

"Nail, Dende, bathe Gohan. Videl, come help me hunt something." 

Videl was too terrified of the situation to glower or glare or look grumpy, so she just got up and did as asked, though she didn't respond with any kind of affirmative. 

Gohan turned his head to look at her, then frowned. 

"Who's she?" Gohan asked. 

"Our new companion. I'll introduce you two properly after you've gotten some rest." 

Piccolo handed Gohan to Nail, then left the cave with Videl. 

Gohan narrowed his eyes at Videl's retreating back. 

"What's she doing here?" he asked as Nail carried him to the bathing pool they had in the cave. 

"Piccolo said her group left her behind after the Cell Games," Nail said. 

Nail worked on undressing Gohan. The clothes were different from the ones Gohan wore before, and Nail had never encountered buttons or zippers before. It took him a while to figure it out, but he managed. 

Gohan frowned, but he was too tired to do much else about it. 

Once nude, Gohan was lowered into the bathing pool, and Nail cupped water into his hands to pour the water on parts of Gohan's body that weren't submerged in water. 

Dende started to help, but Gohan spoke up about what was also in the trunk. 

"I thought you might like what I brought...." 

"It - it's not another head, is it?" Dende asked, fearful. 

"No.... They're called books." 

"Oh! Books! You found books!?" 

"Yeah.... There was a lot of them over there, and it felt like a waste to leave them.... Tell me if you like them." 

"Thank you, Gohan!" 

Nail smiled a little as Dende went over to the trunk and pulled it further into the cave and started pulling the books out. 

Gohan ended up falling asleep as Nail washed him, and he stayed asleep as Nail pulled him out of the pool and dried him off and redressed him, but in clothes Nail was much more familiar with. Piccolo had taught him the clothes beam, so it wasn't hard to do at all. 

The time scroll decided that was it for today, and it returned Tenshi to the Time Vault. 

Tenshi placed the scroll back where it belonged, then walked unsteadily out of the Time Vault. 

It was nighttime in TokiToki now. Tenshi took several steps from the Time Vault, but each one was shaky. 

She stopped in the middle of the walkway to the arch that led to the rest of the city and fell to her knees. 

She started beating the ground with her fists and screaming out her frustrations, waking up and startling the bird, TokiToki. The bird flew away to a more quiet, peaceful spot, and Tenshi awoke Trunks from his slumber in his home just across the yard. 

Trunks got up and walked out. He saw her, then slowly walked over to her. 

Tenshi looked up as he approached, then wiped her face to rid herself of the tears. 

"More bad things?" he asked. 

She nodded. 

Swallowed hard, she said, "Daddy killed his mother and father and his baby brother...." 

Trunks frowned, then knelt on the walkway near her, but kept his distance. 

"I'm sorry." 

They were silent for a moment, and neither of them moved. 

". . . I don't think I can get up right now...." Tenshi said. The whole ordeal today had really drained her, between seeing Mama Vi be traumatized and kidnapped and the outing outside of TokiToki and the stress from training and seeing Trunks as a Super Saiyan.... She really didn't think she could make herself get up and walk all the way back to her apartment. 

". . . If you don't mind being in the same room as a Saiyan, you can spend the night with me," Trunks offered. 

Some guilt crawled into Tenshi's head-space. 

". . . You should've told me you could go Super Saiyan," Tenshi said. "I know you said Saiyans _can_ go Super Saiyan, but that's a not different from knowing _you_ can...." 

Trunks was quiet for a moment or two. 

"I should have taken your trauma and timeline into account and been better prepared. I'm sorry." 

He waited - hoped - for an apology of some sort. 

Tenshi took a long while with it, and maybe she wasn't apologizing for the right thing, but Trunks took it when she gave it. 

"I'm sorry I hit you and gave you that black eye." 

Trunks was fine with baby steps. Though he really wished for an apology for being called an ape.... But he'd talk to her about that later. 

"I forgive you. Do you want me to help you walk to my place?" 

". . . _Yes_. . . ." From her tone of voice, it was clear she was embarrassed by the admission. 

Trunks helped her get back to her feet and let her use him as a support as they walked to Trunks's home. 

Trunks worked on getting her a comfy place to sit while she meditated. She looked around, seeing that Trunks had a fuuton he slept on, a rather big fridge for food, a small stove, and a variety of Capsule Corp tech lying around. 

"I don't have a problem with you being a Saiyan. It's not that...." she said, feeling like she had to explain herself. 

"We can talk about it tomorrow, if you want. I'm - " Trunks then yawned, and Tenshi got the point. 

"All right." 

Tenshi then realized that Trunks was actually wearing pajamas. Cute pajamas, white ones with blue elephants printed on it. 

"I woke you up?" 

Trunks shrugged, then crawled back onto his fuuton, eyes already closed. 

Tenshi took that as her cue to focus on meditation. 

The unfocused eyes of Goku's corpse haunted her meditation.


	14. Enslavement

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sex stuff is discussed, but no sex scenes occur. But everything is uncomfortable and we delve into details about the slave trade in King Piccolo's kingdom. Yeah.

Tenshi found herself unable to meditate through the night. She settled for adjusting the pillows Trunks had given her and laying down to stare at the ceiling and try to just . . . stop thinking about the way Goku's eyes had looked when he died. Stop thinking about the way his head looked as Father held it up by the hair.... 

She rummaged around for a flashlight and a book to read, and that helped a lot. It had a lot of information about the general nature of Otherworld in the book. 

When Trunks awoke, he rolled around under his fuuton covers and stretched, grumbling a little to himself. 

Tenshi turned off the flashlight and put a bookmark in the book, then set it aside and sat up, pretending like she had been meditating the whole night. 

Trunks opened his eyes, his hair a little askew. 

He mumbled something that sort of sounded like 'good morning,' then crawled over to his little kitchenette area. 

Tenshi opened her eyes, satisfied with the pretend-meditation ruse and watched him move around. He got out the fixings for coffee, but she observed that he was finding it mostly through muscle-memory. 

She couldn't help but chuckle a little. 

"You're not a morning person I see." 

"Mmphf. No, not really...." 

Trunks started the coffee maker, then sat on the floor and waited for it to finish. He looked rather silly with his hair sticking up and that look on his face like what he really wanted was to go back to bed. It was kind of cute. Reminded her of Pan a bit.... 

She realized she was feeling a little thirsty, so she got up and fetched herself a tall glass of water. 

The coffee machine finished brewing the coffee, and Trunks pulled himself up off the floor and poured himself a mug. 

He drank it black. 

"I never quite understood that drink. What's it do?" Tenshi asked, leaning against Trunks's counter. 

"Caffeine. Wakes you up," Trunks said, bringing it to his lips and taking a long sip. Tenshi knew it was hot, so she was a little impressed he drank it without even blowing on it a little bit before doing so. "Not necessarily good for you, but my mom and I drank it a lot in my timeline." 

Tenshi made a thoughtful grunt, then continued to drink her own water. That lined up with what she understood of the drink. The only ones she knew who had drunk it were Dr. Bulma Briefs in her own timeline. At first she had thought it was some kind of oil or human waste or mud, because those were the only things that color she had ever seen before. Dr. Briefs in her timeline, though, drank it with a lot of sugar and milk, making it a lighter brown color that she associated with waste and dirt. In that dark brown color, she really could've only mistaken it for oil. 

She remembered what Dr. Briefs face had looked like when she had asked about why she was drinking it in a . . . not very nice way. While it hadn't been the first time she had been looked at like she was disgusting, it was certainly the first time a human had ever looked at her like that, and she had felt incredibly offended and refused to apologize, even long after the incident and long after she learned how rude the question had been. 

She made a mental note to just . . . not share that story with Trunks. Ever. 

"What was your timeline like?" Tenshi asked. Trunks seemed to be waking up a bit with the coffee. 

Trunks was quiet for a moment, finishing off his first cup of coffee, then pouring him another one and starting to go around the kitchenette to make actual breakfast. 

"It wasn't too different from the main timeline at first.... But then Goku died from a heart virus while I was just a few months old. Then two androids - well, they were cyborgs, really - they had been woken up by their creator, and they started destroying everything and killing everyone, including their creator. For a long while, it was just me, my mother, and Gohan, and then . . . it was just me and my mother. My mother created a time machine to allow me to go back in time and . . . well, you can gather the rest." 

Tenshi nodded.

Trunks cooked himself quite a bit of food, which was expected for a Saiyan, Tenshi supposed. Both Pan and Daddy had eaten a _lot_ of food, while Mama Vi and the other slaves around the kingdom ate a lot less than them. She supposed it was nice to see where it had come from.... 

_"You're such a pig, Pan!"_

_"Am not!"_

_"Piggie, piggie! Oink oink oink oink!"_

_"Hey, stop it! I'm just hungry!"_

Tenshi shook her head, trying to get the thoughts out of her head. It was a long time ago, it didn't matter anymore. 

Tenshi spotted chicken broth in the back of Trunks's fridge. 

"Hey.... Were you gonna use that?" 

"Hm? Use what?" 

"This." Tenshi pulled it out and held it up. 

"Oh, uh. I forgot I had that. Um.... No, I don't think so. You want it?" 

"Yeah, I could use some protein." 

"Sure, go ahead." 

Tenshi heated it up in a sauce pan, then poured it into a mug and held it in her hands. 

She looked up and watched as Trunks ate. His eye was still bruised, and her stomach twisted a little bit with guilt. 

They had their own food and drink in silence for a good while. Tenshi finished her broth and water a lot sooner than Trunks did, and she simply watched as he ate. He still ate as politely now as he had in the movie theatre. 

"Um...." she started, a little purple in the face. "Did you want to talk about anything?" 

She knew what happened yesterday . . . should probably be talked about, but . . . she also didn't feel comfortable bringing it up herself. 

She kind of just wanted to pretend it never happened.... 

As she thought that, a lot of other things she had done that she had just wanted to pretend never happened came to mind. Dammit.... 

Trunks thought about the question for a while, then he shook his head. 

"No. Unless you want to talk about what you saw in the scroll...." 

He had slept on it, and ultimately, right then, he wasn't comfortable yet with bringing up her use of . . . language when she had attacked him. 

"I can talk about it...." And she launched into a description of what she had seen, not being too detailed with the gore she had witnessed. But Trunks was giving her a sympathetic look, and she wished it would go away. She didn't need his pity.... 

Or maybe he just felt sad over the whole thing, because of Gohan.... 

"And . . . and Goku and Chichi didn't deserve it. They . . . they really were good people who just wanted their kid back..... And I had an uncle - a real uncle - I never ever met.... It's just so much to take in, y'know?" 

"I can imagine, but I can't say I can relate to the exact situation. But in terms of learning that things weren't the way that you thought . . . I know exactly how you feel." 

Tenshi thought about Trunks's story about how he became a Time Patroller. He probably witnessed what his parents were like when he was an infant, and she could imagine that that could potentially be quite the shock. 

They were silent for a while. 

"I really am sorry about hitting you," Tenshi said, knowing words only did so much. 

"I know," Trunks said, commencing eating once more. "I understand you only did it because you were afraid." 

"Yeah, but...." 

Trunks waited, starting to hope that he'd get an apology about the "damn, dirty ape" comment without prodding for it. 

". . . But I shouldn't've been afraid of you, when you've been nothing but kind to me here. There's no reason you'd ever be a threat to me, and I should've known better." 

Trunks was torn between being disappointed and feeling touched that she trusted him. 

He convinced himself that the positive emotion was more important. 

"I'm honored you trust me," Trunks said. 

Tenshi smiled at him.

"So what're you gonna do today?" Tenshi asked. 

"There's some paperwork I need to do, but other than that, unless an emergency happens, it's pretty wide open." 

"Do you . . . want to go into the scroll again with me later?" 

Trunks nodded. "I would. If you'd like to have me with you." 

"I would." 

Tenshi found herself blushing slightly as she said that. That was odd.... Why was she blushing? 

Tenshi left Trunks alone for now, figuring she could meet back up with him around lunch time to see how his paperwork was coming. 

She headed for the training building and focused on weight-lifting and the punching bag. She ignored the stares she was getting and the whispers and glares she was receiving. 

Word of how she punched Trunks must've gotten around. It made sense. He was their boss, and he was well-liked, and why wouldn't he be? He was kind and caring and thoughtful and went out of his way to help others.... They didn't know her, she was a stranger. It made sense that they wouldn't like her now. 

But . . . she'd make it up to him. And then they'd see she wasn't that bad, and it would blow over. 

She went back to her apartment to get a protein shake. Mmmm, chocolate. She checked her oxygen tank, then fixed herself with a refill, then headed back towards Trunks's little house. 

He wasn't inside it, but as she stepped out of it, she saw Trunks walking out of the Time Vault with the Supreme Kai of Time. They were talking rather heatedly to each other. Upon closer inspection as Tenshi walked over to them, Trunks seemed to be rather anxious and stressed out. Supreme Kai of Time just looked angry. 

Their conversation immediately came to a halt when they noticed her, and she hadn't come quite close enough to hear what they were saying. Her brow furrowed, and she put her hands on her hips. 

"If you were talking about me, I hope it's good things," Tenshi said, coming up the Time Vault stairs. 

"Uh.... Yes! It was! I swear! Uh, Supreme Kai of Time has a very important meeting she has to get to, so, uh," Trunks said, and Tenshi could tell that Trunks was just trying to avoid a scene. 

Supreme Kai of Time sighed and crossed her arms. 

"So I must get going to it. It _is_ very important." 

Supreme Kai of Time started to walk down the stairs. 

"And you be careful!" she called over her shoulder at Trunks. 

"Yes, ma'am!" Trunks said, still looking rather anxious. 

She walked away, and Tenshi came closer to Trunks. 

"What was that about?" 

Trunks frowned and bowed his head. 

"I . . . I can't tell you right now. I'm sorry." 

Tenshi frowned. They seemed to have been talking about her, and he couldn't tell her. 

"But you can tell me later?" 

"More than likely, yes...." 

Tenshi nodded. "All right. Are you done with your paperwork?" 

"I am. Are you ready?" 

"Yeah." 

They went into the Time Vault and straight to Tenshi's scroll. They took hold of it, Trunks holding onto one end of it while Tenshi held onto the other. Then it teleported them into a safe, out-of-sight spot near Piccolo, Gohan, Nail, Dende, and Videl.

Compared to Trunks, Gohan's manners while eating were absolutely atrocious, and Tenshi had actually forgotten just how bad they could be. She scrunched up her nose as she watched her daddy tear through the meat on the bone. 

Videl it seemed at least started out with good manners, but Tenshi soon saw that Gohan was making it a competition to get the most food, and Videl quickly caught on that he really would eat all of it if she didn't jump in there with just as poor manners. 

Dende and Nail had very similar looks to Tenshi's face, though Dende's was a bit more on the incredulous side. 

"I don't think I'll ever be used to watching them eat...." Dende admitted, unable to tear his eyes away from them. 

Piccolo snorted. "If you think the eating is bad, you don't want to know what happens later." 

"Later . . . ?" Dende looked rather terrified at the idea that there was something about humans that was worse than their eating habits. 

Piccolo laughed more, but Gohan noticeably stopped eating, and Videl swallowed what was in her mouth and frowned. 

"What's that supposed to mean?" Videl asked with a bit of attitude in the question. 

Gohan's eyes widened, and he stared at her like she had lost her mind. 

Piccolo did look at her, which meant he heard her, but he focused on answering Dende. Videl glared at Piccolo, and Gohan saw it, and it made Gohan increasingly nervous. 

"You know how we urinate?" 

"Yeah...." 

"Humans do something in addition to that. Their food gets digested and it, well, has to leave at some point." 

Dende furrowed his brow, clearly not quite understanding what Piccolo was saying. Gohan blushed and avoided making eye contact with the Namekians. 

". . . What, you don't poop?" Videl said, raising her eyebrow. "Just what are you?" 

"Of course they don't! They're demons, they wouldn't do anything as gross as that!" 

Videl glared at Gohan. 

"You poop, too, jerk!" 

"Grrrrr!" 

It was true, though, and Gohan's blush showed that he was perfectly aware of that and didn't appreciate her bringing it up. 

"It's gross, but necessary for your species, and there's no need to be embarrassed about it. You gotta go, you gotta go," Piccolo said, bringing a hand and gently caressing Gohan's bangs out of his face. 

Nail watched, noticing that Piccolo had been . . . kinder to the boy ever since he had brought him Goku's severed head. 

Some time passed, and Piccolo and Nail stood. 

"You three stay here. Nail and I will be back soon. If everything goes well, we'll have an improved place to live," Piccolo said. 

He and Nail then flew off, leaving the children by themselves. 

Gohan wasn't hungry anymore, due to embarrassment still lingering, so Videl dug into what was left, taking her time with it. They were quiet for a long time. 

"You should show them more respect," Gohan said grumpily. 

Videl paused in her chewing to glare at Gohan, but she was wary of actually being gruff with him. She obviously knew what he was capable of (he killed Cell and beheaded that other guy....) and she didn't want to be on the wrong end of it. 

"Why? That demon in charge is an asshole." 

Gohan bared his teeth at her, positively animalistic in his attempt to scare her, and Videl didn't want to show that it was working.

"Uh....! Uhhhh....! L-let's please get along!" Dende said. "We don't know how long they'll be gone, so we'll be together for a while and we should focus on not . . . killing each other." 

Dende was clearly nervous, and it was very probable that he was also thinking about how Gohan took off Goku's head. 

Gohan sent Dende a small glare, and Dende leaned back, sweat starting to roll down his forehead. Videl glowered, but not at anyone in particular. 

"I don't see how you can possibly like those assholes," Videl said, talking to Gohan. 

"What's an asshole?" Dende asked, but he was completely ignored. 

"Mr. Piccolo's a good man!" 

Gohan stood up abruptly, clearly aiming for a fight if Videl kept pushing his buttons. 

"Seriously!? What planet have you been living on?" 

Videl stood up and got into Gohan's face. 

Their height difference was more obvious now, Videl being taller than Gohan. Which made sense; she was two years older than him, thirteen to his eleven. Poor Dende was shorter than them both, and the Namekian had a sinking feeling he was the one who was supposed to be responsible for the other two. He may have been a little older than Gohan, but Videl was definitely older than both of them, and she scared him a little. 

"He didn't have to take you in!" Gohan retorted. 

"Take me in? Take _me in_!? I wish I'd never met him!" Videl shouted. She still vividly remembered how Piccolo had killed her father. 

"Then you can leave!" Gohan yelled back. "Go on! Shoo! No one'll miss you!" 

Gohan's hands were balled into fists, and he was gnashing his teeth. 

"MAYBE I WILL!" 

Videl then stormed off with heavy stomps away from them, and Dende watched, panic rising in him. 

"W-wait! Videl!" 

Dende started to run after her, and Gohan sat back down, arms and legs crossed. After a while, he smirked, as though he had won something. 

"Mr. Piccolo didn't need her anyway," Gohan said aloud, digging back into the food that was left. 

Eventually, Dende brought Videl back, which made Gohan unhappy, and the three of them did their best to entertain each other, Dende being the peacekeeper in the group. But that didn't stop Videl and Gohan from getting into more fights. And it didn't keep Gohan from pushing Videl into the dirt when they had gone in search of greens for dinner, and it didn't stop the hair pulling and biting that resulted from it. 

It was hard to tell who was more relieved when Piccolo and Nail returned, Gohan or Dende.

Nail raised an eyebrow at the children, Gohan and Videl dirty from fighting on the ground and rolling around trying to best one another, and they both had bruises and bite marks on their arms and faces. 

"What . . . happened while we were gone?" Nail asked slowly. 

Piccolo gave an unimpressed look at Dende. 

"I take it you have no idea how to calm down humans." 

"They wouldn't stop fighting!" Dende insisted, a little worse for wear himself, what with his attempts to pull the two apart and make them stop. 

"Gohan. Is that true?" 

Gohan stood up straight and was the perfect image of obedience, now that Piccolo was here. 

"Yes sir." 

"And why was that?" 

"She was being disrespectful." 

"To?" 

"T-to you," Gohan said, his slight hesitation the only indication that he didn't really want Videl to get into any _real_ trouble. 

"Only some of the time, the rest of the time he shoved me for no good reason!" Videl protested. "Leave it to a feral child to not know how to behave!" 

Gohan gritted his teeth and glared at her, but he stayed standing in one place, which had not been something he had been doing when they had left them alone. 

"Gohan knows how to behave," Piccolo said firmly. He looked Gohan in the eye. "Be nicer to the girl." 

The look on Gohan's face was rather crushed. No tears, but his mouth was trembling in that way a toddler's does before they start to whine or sob. 

"Yes, sir...." Gohan said, his voice wavering slightly. 

Piccolo raised an eyebrow, not getting what was up with him, but he didn't attempt to figure it out. 

"Come along, all three of you. We have a new home to move into." 

Dende, Gohan, Videl, and Nail gathered the little that they had with them, then the children followed Piccolo and Nail in the direction of where they had gone in the first place. 

Soon a city came into view. It was a secluded city, near some ruins that seemed as though some kind of destruction had occurred a long time ago. But there was a palace and homes and other buildings and some farming land and a river not too far away. It was a big step up from the barren wastelands that made hunting for food difficult and searching for plant life and drinkable water even harder. A few hours later, they reached the city and walked in via the road. 

Videl frowned as she calculated how long it had taken them to get there versus how long they had waited. They had been gone for days, but it had only taken half a day to get here.... So what had taken Nail and Piccolo so long? 

Videl's unasked question soon was answered as people came out of their homes, wrists shackled and collars taut against their throats. Her eyes widened. 

It had taken so long because he had taken this city over.... 

While she had understood that she was kidnapped, she was only just now understanding the gravity of the situation. Just who was this Piccolo? And . . . was there any hope of getting away from him? In the wastelands, there had been absolutely no hope because she didn't know the land and the climate was cruel.... At first, she had thought she might be able to make friends with Gohan and escape, but the boy had proved to be too stubborn and too caught up in Piccolo's plans to ever be of use. Now . . . now she wondered if this would be to her benefit or . . . if this meant that there wasn't any hope left. 

Gohan furrowed his eyebrows, unsure of what to make about what was happening around them. Just what was going on? 

"Allow me to introduce to you the former Ox Kingdom. With the Ox King out of the way, it is now mine. Well, ours, but mostly mine. There's a big library in a corner of town that Dende will enjoy, and I've already started to construct a fighting ring. That'll interest the two of you." Piccolo looked over his shoulder at Gohan and Videl, and the two human children stared up at him. 

Videl swallowed. Was he trying to be nice? What for? He was a jerk.... Just what was he planning? 

"Mr. Piccolo - " 

"King Piccolo, from now on, Gohan." 

"- King Piccolo. What's going on? Who are all these people?" 

Piccolo stopped and turned to face Gohan, a smirk on his face. 

"Isn't it obvious? This is the beginnings of my kingdom. It's small, for sure, but it'll grow from this point forward. As for the people, they are now all my slaves. They are to serve me much as you and Videl do." 

Videl's skin crawled, and she had a very bad feeling. Slaves? Her? Shit.... This was bad, this was very bad.... 

"Speaking of which," Piccolo said, and he lifted his finger. A spark of light glinted in the tip of his finger, and the clothes beam shot down to materialize Videl and Gohan their own sets of slave bangles and collars. 

Videl let out a shout and started to tug at the slave jewelry, but it was too tight on her skin. They would never be coming off without Piccolo (or perhaps Nail, since he knew the beam as well, but in all likelihood....) 

Gohan merely looked down at the bangles and collar, then looked around at Videl's and the ones the other humans wore. He frowned. 

"Why so many?" Gohan asked, sounding more sad than anything else. 

"Hn. What's with that tone? Don't tell me you feel sorry for them." 

"It's not that," Gohan said, turning his face to look at Piccolo instead. "I . . . did I do something wrong?" 

Piccolo raised an eyebrow, not understanding the question. "No, of course not. You've done admirably well. You destroyed Cell, then tricked the enemy into trusting you long enough so that you could have an opportunity to kill them, and then you brought me his head. You've stayed loyal and true. I couldn't have asked for better." 

"Then why is she here, and why all these others?! Why aren't I enough?" 

Piccolo understood what this was about now. Gohan was _jealous_. The look on Piccolo's face told Tenshi (and Nail) that the new king hadn't even considered that a possibility. 

Trunks bit his lip as they watched. Knowing what he did about Stockholm Syndrome, he understood the jealousy that Gohan was exhibiting to come from a place of fear that if he wasn't needed anymore, he'd be killed (or something equally as life-threatening). 

"Come here, Gohan. Nail, I need to talk to Gohan alone for a moment. If you could...." 

Nail nodded, then took Dende's hand and put his other hand on Videl's shoulder and steered the children in a different direction. 

Piccolo led Gohan to the palace, eager to see it once more and wanting to show Gohan what it looked like. Gohan followed silently, feeling insignificant and small. 

Piccolo pushed the palace doors open, and even with how Gohan was feeling, he could be in awe of the architecture and wealth it displayed. 

"You could gage how big the city is, couldn't you?" Piccolo asked. 

"Yes, sir. I mean, yes, Your Majesty." 

Piccolo smirked. He was going to really like the sound of that. 

"And you see how big this palace is?" 

"Yes, Your Majesty." 

"Now, in all honesty, imagine if I was demanding of you to clean the entire palace, fetch water, farm the land, train for battle, prepare tea, and assist with taking over new lands and be present for meetings. Do you really think you'd be able to do all of that in a single day, every day?" 

Gohan was silent, but his eyes widened as he realized what Piccolo was saying. 

"I'm not stupid. I knew you wouldn't be able to do all of that yourself. So that's what the others are for. They're for the grunt work, while you stay by my side, assisting in whatever way I decide is best." 

Piccolo put his hand on Gohan's shoulder, and Gohan made eye contact with him. 

"All the new slaves are for your benefit, as well as mine. You and Videl should focus on being warriors and fight alongside me, not stuck doing menial work. Though I doubt anyone else will ever be able to get my tea brewed right." 

Gohan nodded. "Yes, Your Majesty.... Why is Videl here, though? She was here when I came back.... Did you think I wouldn't return?" 

Piccolo chose to tell a half-lie. 

"No, I did know you would return." That part was the lie. "I just figured you needed someone closer to your own age to interact with. Another human. Besides, with how formidable both of you are in a battle, I expect equally as strong children to come from the two of you." 

Gohan stared up at Piccolo for a moment, a light blush gracing his cheeks. 

"Children?" Gohan asked. 

Trunks (hiding behind a pillar with Tenshi) couldn't believe as gross a smirk as it was could ever be on Piccolo's face. 

"You'll be hitting puberty soon, won't you? And after that, you'll be an adult, and you and Videl will breed, providing me with a new breed of warrior. But you have to be nice to her if you're going to be her mate one day. Understand?" 

Gohan tilted his head a little. 

"Your Majesty?" 

"Yes?" 

". . . How does someone breed with another person?" 

Piccolo was silent for a moment, thinking about the answer. 

"Well. Um." His brow furrowed. "That . . . is not something I'm too clear on the details on with your species, but I know that men and women tend to figure it out. You can probably ask one of the other slaves. I know that us demons can just pop an egg out and there's the new devil spawn, no additional partner required. But humans definitely need two, and it's always a man and a woman." 

"Yes, Your Majesty." 

"Any other questions or concerns?" 

Gohan hesitated for a moment, staring at his bangles. They looked unremarkable, looked like everyone else's.... 

"Am . . . I'm not replaceable, am I?" Gohan asked softly. 

"No, you're not. I'd be very hard-pressed to find a better servant than you, Gohan." 

Gohan continued to stare at the bangles, and Piccolo watched him do that for a while before lifting his finger and doing a bit of magic. 

Gohan's eyes widened as he saw rubies appear on the gold. His mouth fell open as he admired the jewels. 

"There. That way everyone else will know just how special you are compared to them," Piccolo said. 

Gohan was smiling as he lifted his head, his little eleven-year-old heart beating faster and a light blush on his face. 

"Thank you, Your Majesty." 

Piccolo smiled, enjoying the ego-boost. 

"You're welcome. Now, why don't we join back up with the others?" 

Gohan nodded, and he walked with Piccolo back to Nail, Dende, and Videl. Nail had treated Videl to good food she hadn't eaten in a long while. 

Time sped forward for Tenshi and Trunks, and soon they found themselves in a room in the palace where Gohan and Videl were given to sleep in. Tenshi recognized it as Videl and Pan's room. Dende was visiting, reading out of a book, but Tenshi knew that Dende had a room all to himself adjacent to Nail's in the other wing. The book Dende was reading was making him frown. 

"Humans are so weird. There's all this . . . superiority of one gender over the other, and it's so stupid. If anything, the human female is typically better equipped to deal with the stresses and dangers of everyday life, and yet the human male for some reason thinks it's their place to - " 

"Heh, you should write your own book to correct them," Videl half-joked. She liked what he was saying, though. 

Videl was growing attached to Dende, regardless of how she felt about everything else. 

"I really should, all this human nonsense is brain-numbing, though there is some interesting facts in here. Like, I had no idea that there were species that only had one set of genitalia," Dende said. 

". . . Huh?" Videl and Gohan both said. 

"Yeah, I had no idea that Gohan only has one and that you have the other. But I have both." 

"Wouldn't it get crowded down there?" Videl asked. 

Gohan stayed silent during this conversation. 

"No, no, they're not both between my legs, that's just my penis and sperm sacs. My eggs are in my throat, and I have a third hole in addition to my esophagus and air way." 

"Whoa...." Videl said. 

"So . . . your species reproduces sexually and asexually?" Gohan asked quietly. 

Dende nodded. 

"Yup! And there's a lot of evidence that we can crossbreed with a lot of different things, though I'm unsure if it's applicable to anything on this planet." 

Videl and Gohan didn't even question the phrase 'planet', which made Tenshi want to hit them both upside the head, but that would be changing the past, and that would be bad. 

"And . . . your species has mouth-to-mouth sex and penis-to-mouth...." Gohan said, processing that information. 

Dende nodded. 

"Yeah! Though it seems like your species does things a bit different. According to this, there's vaginal sex, where the human penis enters the human vagina, and that's how humans make babies. Then there's anal sex, where the penis goes into the anus - that's what you mean when you say asshole, right, Videl?" 

"Right," Videl said, blushing a little. 

"And your species also does the penis-to-mouth thing." 

"And demons don't have assholes?" Gohan asked, to clarify. 

"Nope! That's . . . something I don't envy the two of you for, ha ha...." Dende said. "Oh! Videl, I've read up all about your menstrual cycle, so if you ever need assistance with it, I will be able to help!" 

Videl's blush darkened. "Uh... Thanks?" After a moment, she considered it. "If there's a way to get real pads here instead of rags, that'd be great, actually...." 

Dende made a note of it in his notebook that he took homework notes in of that, then beamed, glad to be helpful. 

Dende clearly did not see them as less than him at this point in their lives. Tenshi liked seeing them like this.... She didn't want to acknowledge to herself that this meant that Dende had changed by the time she was born. 

"So . . . you're saying it's possible for demons and humans to . . . do it?" Gohan asked. 

"Probably!" Dende's vocal inflection showed that he thought it was all one big fascinating scientific conversation. "We do have two of the three parts that humans use for sex." 

"And . . . do demons have sex often or . . . ?" 

"It depends! Some really like sex, and others it's more of a once in a blue moon sort of thing. Piccolo and Nail both seem to be once in a blue moon type deals, but Piccolo's actually really young for an adult, so many he just hasn't found the right equilibrium yet." 

The wheels in Gohan's head were turning. He knew that Piccolo wanted him and Videl to breed.... But he wondered what could be asked of him if Piccolo had . . . needs, and he found that the idea excited him. 

The look on his face made it rather obvious what he was thinking, but Dende and Videl were not paying him any mind and were instead continuing the conversation without him. 

Tenshi shook her head. 

"They don't do it for another seven years," she muttered under her breath. Despite Trunks being thankful for that clarification, he shushed her quietly.

The scroll sped them through a time skip, and Tenshi and Trunks had to seek out another hiding spot. Though it was curious that they hadn't been spotted once, despite randomly appearing in the middle of rooms.... 

Gohan looked about thirteen now, having grown taller and what they could hear of his voice sounding like it was deepening. Videl was fifteen, but it seemed like she wouldn't be growing much taller than she already had. Gohan was catching up to her quickly. They had towels across their necks and sweat was rolling down their skin, clearly having come back into the palace from sparring. 

"I'm so glad King Piccolo set us up with that new bath. If I ever had to use that wooden monstrosity again, I was gonna scream," Videl said. 

Gohan laughed a little bit, but both of them came to a halt when they heard the sounds of Piccolo and Nail talking to each other. Gohan at first started to walk in the direction of the voices as normal, but Videl put her hand on his shoulder and pulled him so that he hugged the wall. They side-stepped along until they could peer around the corner. Gohan furrowed his eyebrows, wondering if this counted as spying and if they should stop. But the conversation made Gohan hold his tongue. 

"Dende's report on human behavior has proven very useful," Piccolo said. 

"Hm." Nail had been talking less and less over the years, though Gohan and Videl didn't really know why. Though Videl suspected it had to do with the demon's kinder nature compared to Piccolo's. 

"At this rate, the children will all be brought into the lines of thought detailed in Dende's writings, and we'll have the adults fully bowing to our will in no time." 

"And we're sure they're adults? Some of them seem . . . young." 

Piccolo shrugged. "Dende claims humans are adults when they finish developing sexually, which occurs around eighteen years of age for them." 

"I understand that, but.... They don't seem all that different from children to me...." 

"How old are you again?" 

Nail didn't answer, but Piccolo didn't press. 

"It's only natural for younger adults to be more immature than the older ones. You don't _have_ to fuck them if you don't want to." 

Nail made a disgruntled face, and Gohan's eyes widened. _What?_ Gohan tugged at Videl's clothes, but Videl ignored him. It . . . it couldn't mean what he thought it did, could it? 

"I don't entirely see the need for what you've set up, though.... You've admitted that you don't feel sexual attraction." 

"You're right, I don't." 

Piccolo leaned against the wall, then he continued. 

"The idea of . . . _touching_ anyone or anything with my hands or mouth disgusts me, and I only appreciate attention being given to the lower region when biology calls. But the new division to the slave ranks provides a psychological angle on my end. You read Dende's research." 

"I did, but...." 

"The humans are so wrapped up in gender roles and symbolic meanings of sex that they're terrified of the fact that the division exists. It's made the other divisions cooperate better and behave, and the division will indeed have its uses outside of psychological warfare. Also, did you see that one man's face when I told them the division is almost entirely male?" 

Nail snorted a little. "I did." 

"Anyway, with the mother division and the new rules, it should be a lot easier to increase the numbers in the work force, which will in turn increase our ability to produce agricultural, engineering, and architectural product and increase our military." 

"That increase could result in a need of more people in charge. Would those responsibilities go to Gohan and Videl?" 

"Hmmmmm." The look on Piccolo's face said no, but he was hesitant to write it off entirely. 

"It's either that or start reproducing yourself," Nail said bluntly. 

"Eh. I'll think about it." 

Nail shook his head, starting to smile at how ridiculous Piccolo was being. 

Nail and Piccolo rounded the corner, and Videl pushed away from the wall, pretending she hadn't been listening, but the act of pretend was pointless. Piccolo raised an eyebrow, and Nail just looked amused. 

"How long were you listening?" Nail asked kindly. 

"I don't know what you're talking about!" Videl insisted, not looking them in the eye. 

"What about the new division?" Gohan asked. 

Videl's shoulders sagged as Gohan's question basically told them their answer. 

Piccolo smirked. 

"It's a division of sex slaves. It's nothing for you to worry about, at least not until you're of age and after you and Videl have produced at least one child." 

Videl scrunched her face up; it was already well known how she felt about the expectation that she and this _kid_ were going to fuck and raise a kid, but Piccolo believed she'd come around in the next five or so years. 

Gohan bit his lip, clearly wanting to say something else, but Piccolo merely patted the top of his head and changed the subject before he could say anything. 

"Why don't you wash up, then meet me in the throne room with tea?" 

"Yes, Master...." 

Gohan did just that, arriving in the throne room after bathing in the new tub in the bathroom he and Videl shared. (The bathroom only held the tub; the outhouse was for relieving oneself.) Videl bathed after him, and he prepared Piccolo's tea the way he knew he liked it. 

He brought it right to Piccolo's side at the throne. The throne was huge, much bigger than Piccolo, but it was not the Ox King's throne. It was made from bone and leather, and Gohan wasn't sure where it had come from. 

It was nearing the end of the day, so Piccolo was alone in the throne room. The palace was huge for just five people living inside it, but that often meant that it was easy to have private conversations. 

"Master?" Gohan said as he poured Piccolo his tea. 

"Yes?"

Piccolo accepted the cup and took a sip of the tea. 

"Did . . . did you receive service from the new division?" 

Gohan's voice was shaky, and his body was trembling slightly. 

Piccolo gave Gohan a suspicious look. 

"I don't believe that is any of your concern." 

Gohan's mouth trembled a little, but he took a deep breath to keep himself together. 

"Master, I . . . if you're ever in need of _anything_ I can provide it." 

Piccolo let the statement hang in the air for a while, it rolling around in his head for a bit before he turned his body more towards Gohan. 

"You've only just hit puberty and won't be finished with it for another five years, according to Dende. That means you're not fit for sexual relations with an _adult_ like myself for another five years. Despite the fact that I know you are _more_ than willing to do what I ask of you, I shall not ask you to have sex with me, and nothing you say will make me change my mind." 

Gohan furrowed his eyebrows. "With an adult, or at all?" 

"Technically you could have sex with someone your own age, but your orders to wait until you are an adult to breed with Videl are final. Understood?" 

"Yes, Master." 

Gohan had no problems with that. While he had learned to like Videl, he had no interest in her sexually. It wasn't thoughts of her he touched himself to, and she was not who he fantasied about getting on his knees in front of. 

"Besides, Videl should be in no hurry to get pregnant. Dende's research says she has until her fifties or so before she will cease being able to have children. She has plenty of time, and I insist your teenage years be spent training and being ready for battle." 

"Yes, sir." 

"Don't worry about it. You're plenty useful to me without being a living sex toy." 

"Yes, sir...." 

Piccolo held his cup of tea out for a refill, and Gohan did as asked. 

The conversation didn't comfort the boy. He found it hard to sleep, so while Videl was snoring, he got up and wandered around the palace, eventually stepping into the library and finding Dende reading. 

Dende looked up from the book he was focused on when he heard Gohan's footsteps. 

"Gohan! Are you all right? Don't you usually sleep at this hour?" 

Gohan nodded in response to the last question Dende asked him, moving to sit across from him. 

"King Piccolo is seeking out other people for something he needs, and it's upsetting me...." 

Dende pushed the book out of the way so he could focus on Gohan better. 

"What is it that he needs?" 

"Sex." 

Dende smiled at Gohan sympathetically. 

"Well, you understand why that is, right? Honestly, if Piccolo was going to you for sex, Nail and I wouldn't stand for it and there'd be a bit of a revolt on your hands." 

"He'd win," Gohan said, confident in the statement. 

"I dunno, Nail's crafty." 

Gohan narrowed his eyes a little, but Dende changed the question. 

"Did Piccolo order you not to have sex with anybody or are you upset that he's just not having sex with you?" 

"The last one. He said Videl and I have to wait to breed when we're eighteen, but he didn't say I couldn't fuck sooner.... Just not with him...." 

"And you wanted that?" 

"If I'm not useful, he'll get rid of me...." 

Dende reached out across the table and held Gohan's hand. 

"Piccolo will never get rid of you. He trusts you more than anybody. He told you that, didn't he?" 

Gohan nodded, and Dende laughed a little. 

"Then what are you worried about?" 

Gohan bit his lip, and he wasn't entirely sure he could answer Dende in any way that made any sense. 

"I just want to fulfill his every need...." Gohan whined. "And I can't." 

"There's not a tiny part of you that's relieved he doesn't? I mean, his - our species' outer genitalia is pretty big. With how small you are, Piccolo would rip your ass in half or suffocate you. You'd need quite a bit of practice with accepting large penises into your body if you were going to have sex with him, anyway." 

"I would?" 

Dende nodded, and Gohan thought about it. 

Trunks and Tenshi were awkwardly standing in the dark, watching them. Both of them were blushing rather heavily. It was very uncomfortable to listen to a thirteen-year-old talk about wanting to be fucked by an adult Namekian. Even if that Namekian was seventeen and not an adult in human terms. (But seventeen and thirteen was a disturbing age difference to even consider a sexual relationship to be occurring between them.) Tenshi rather wished they just weren't here for this part of the past at all. 

Dende was blushing as well, but it was for a different reason. He was smiling, and it was only now that Tenshi realized something. 

"If you were really interested, you and I could have sex. I'm small enough to not be painful, and there's a nifty trick where I can change my size, if I want. It's for any body part, really, and my whole body, but - " 

Gohan looked at Dende, eyes wide, and Dende started to backpedal. 

"It's mostly a joke, really, I didn't mean - " 

"You want to fuck me?" 

"Well - yes but it's not just - you're really nice and I really really like you and you're such a good friend, and I - I just - I also want to hold your hand and - and be your boyfriend and - uh, well, all the stuff that comes with being a boyfriend, but no pressure, if you don't want to, nothing has to happen - " 

Gohan continued to stare at him wide-eyed, and Dende's face was becoming bright purple. 

"Just forget I said anything, I'm sorry...." Dende said, ducking his head. "Actually, I should really go meditate, there's no sense in staying up all night and - and you should get some sleep! Lord knows you have a busy day tomorrow! Heck, all your days are busy! You don't have time to be an insomniac, go on, go to bed." 

Dende abandoned his book and hurried out of the library. Gohan was left sitting in the dark with just the lamp that Dende had been using, still processing what it was Dende had said. 

Eventually Gohan got up and went to bed. 

At this point, the scroll sent Trunks and Tenshi back to the Time Vault. Both of them were rather grateful for it, since their brains were rather on overload with the new information and the multiple levels of discomfort they were in. 

They went outside to sit on the Time Vault steps. They sat in silence, feeling very uncomfortable. 

Eventually, Trunks got up and attempted to reach a spot that was appropriate to do what he needed to do, but with how big the yard was, finding a good place to vomit wasn't easy. At least it wasn't on the walkway. 

When Trunks came back, he looked rather green in the face. 

"I . . . don't even really want to ask this, but . . . did your father . . . rape people?" Trunks asked. 

Tenshi stiffened, and her answer came out too fast. 

"No." 

It was too curt, quick, and offended. Trunks knew she had no idea, but was also fearing the worst, as he was. Trunks sat back down next to Tenshi, hugging his knees. 

They sat in more silence before Tenshi spoke up. 

"I never realized Dende loved Daddy that way...." 

Her memories of his lessons, especially when he talked about human men, now were tainted with unease. 

"The Dende I grew up with . . . was bitter and seemed to always have a grudge against something.... Now I think . . . I think that grudge was against Father and Daddy for . . . for being together and having me...." 

Trunks watched her as she hung her head, watched her try to reconcile the information. 

"The . . . the way that your father talked about people as though they . . . were toys. Did he . . . talk about humans that way all the time?" 

Tenshi was quiet for a long time, trying to think on it. She . . . hadn't given it any thought before. She hadn't ever thought to even consider that there was a difference between talking about humans as people and talking about them as objects or toys.... The more she thought, the more she realized and . . . the worse she felt and the guilt started to creep inside. Because now she remembered things she had said, things she had _done_ , and . . . and she wanted Trunks to like her, but why would he ever like someone who had done the things she had done when she was growing up? 

". . . _Everyone_ talked about humans that way. Except for maybe Mama Vi...." 

Trunks hadn't wanted to hear that, but he knew it made sense. It . . . it scared him, this culture she was brought up in. It was terrifying, and . . . and it had shaped her world view, and . . . it was scary to think about. 

Neither of them moved for a long while, but it was Trunks who stood up first. 

"I'm getting hungry. Do you . . . want to keep my company while I do that? I don't really . . . want to leave you alone with just your thoughts." 

Tenshi slowly stood up and walked with Trunks back into the main area of TokiToki. 

They were too preoccupied with their own thoughts to notice the looks Tenshi was getting in town.


	15. Conception

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Lots of sex in this chapter. Due to the master-slave relationship and Gohan's Stockholm Syndrome, uncompromised consent between Piccolo and Gohan is an impossibility. However, it is perceived as consensual by Gohan and Piccolo, but not Trunks. You'll see how Tenshi feels about it. Nothing is clear-cut. There's also some very tiny discussion of cultural differences when it comes to incest in Namekian and human cultures.

Both Tenshi and Trunks remained very quiet as Trunks forced himself to eat. He knew he had to eat, and he admittedly had been hungry, but it was difficult to hold up an appetite when the thoughts of what they had witnessed in the time scroll resurfaced. Tenshi was slumped over the table, her hand holding onto a glass of water she had barely touched. She was staring at a spot on the table, not looking at Trunks or paying him much attention. Her thoughts were running around in her head, and she gritted her teeth and her grip on the glass tightened. 

"I don't understand . . . ." Tenshi started. Trunks looked up from his food to look at her. She didn't move from her slumped position. "If . . . Daddy and Mama Vi were supposed to breed - " 

Trunks bristled. "Can we please call it something else? I - I know that's the word they used, but - " 

"Uh . . . okay. If Daddy and Mama Vi were supposed to have children, and Father isn't attracted to people, then . . . how . . . ?" 

Trunks frowned, knowing why it was bothering her. 

"Well, you have a half-sister, right?" 

"Yeah. Pan...." 

"And she's Gohan and Videl's . . . right?" 

"Yeah.... I have - had some other, older half-siblings. Father and Nail had a few sons, and Father and Daddy knew I would need help with . . . well." Tenshi sat up properly and gestured to her nasal cannula. "They knew I'd have trouble because both Father and Dende had had some half-breeds that died.... I - I hadn't thought Dende's were my siblings at the time but...." 

Trunks pushed his bowl aside and reached out to hold her hand. She turned her hand around and held his tightly. 

"It'll be okay. The past is the past, and that can't be changed, but that doesn't mean you have to take responsibility for it or feel guilty. All that happened before you were born. There's . . . no reason it should dictate who you are or who you should be. Just because it was a bad situation doesn't mean the cycle can't end." 

Tenshi sighed. 

"There's no cycle to continue, they're all dead now...." 

Trunks bit his lower lip. Right.... 

"I'm sorry. I just meant that - that it doesn't reflect on you as a person. That things . . . weren't the way you thought...."

"You're not making any sense." 

Tenshi leaned back in her chair and brought the glass of water to her lips. She gulped it down quickly, then set it back down on the table and tilted her head back, sighing heavily and closing her eyes. 

"I feel . . . I feel like I have to see more. That I can't . . . just let it stop there. I at least . . . need to see up to the time I was born. 'Cause I know everything that happened after that. Y'know?" 

Trunks nodded. 

"It's just really hard to take in, especially all at once.... Your timeline . . . it's cruel." 

Tenshi didn't say anything. She was thinking about before.... 

_"Father! Father!" She ran up to Piccolo, holding up her graded assignment from Dende. Piccolo took it from his eight-year-old daughter and looked it over. He smirked._

_"Very good, Tenshi. Exactly what I expect from the future ruler."_

_She grinned brightly at him._

_"So tell me: if there is a slave revolt, what do we do?"_

_"Eliminate the trouble-makers, leaving only the children too young to remember if necessary."_

_"Good. You can always rebuild their numbers later."_

_"Right!"_

_"Just keep this in mind, Tenshi."_

_"Hm?"_

_"Always protect your dad. He'll always be by your side. I need to be able to trust you to take care of him if anything should happen to me. No harm comes to Gohan, ever. Understand?"_

_"Yes, Father! Of course I'd protect Daddy! And Mama Vi and Pan, too!"_

_". . . You really like your sister, don't you?"_

_"Mm-hm! I'd kiss on her, but Daddy says I can't 'cause we're related. But S'cargo and Mollusk are brothers and they always kissing and stuff...."_

_"It's just not something monkeys do, sweetheart. Do you care about Pan's feelings about it?"_

_"Of course I do, and she agrees with them that it's weird, so I don't do or say anything about it. Daddy says I'll meet a nice boy when I'm older. A boy who will bow to my every whim and command, heehee!"_

_Piccolo smirked. "That no doubt will be true. I have full confidence that you will rule with an iron fist and command all the respect in the world. Just as you deserve."_

_Tenshi was grinning brightly._

She had so badly wanted to be just as cruel as her father. As it was . . . she just knew that she hadn't anticipated the depths of his cruelty, and she had no idea what she wanted to be anymore. She didn't even know how she compared.... 

Reluctantly, the two of them went back to the Time Vault, neither of them able to put any urgency in their steps. 

Going into the Time Scroll was certainly losing its exoticism. 

When they reappeared in the timeline, they found themselves in . . . a closet. 

Trunks moved to move the closet door so they could see what was happening (and where the closet was), but the sounds Tenshi heard made her reach out to grab Trunks's arm and pull it back sharply. Trunks soon heard the same noises, and his eyes widened. The sounds were unmistakably the noises of two people having sex. 

Moaning and bed creaking and heavy breathing, and Tenshi blushed a horrid purple color as she heard her dad call out Dende's name. 

She immediately plugged her ears, but it did very little, and Trunks's jaw dropped. He quickly followed it with covering his mouth. They were forced to listen for a few minutes longer, then the sounds of climax floated through the air. 

Trunks eased the closet door open enough to see what was happening, but Tenshi covered her eyes, refusing to see it at all. Trunks couldn't really see what was happening, but just enough of leg and Dende's rear-end to have a general estimation about sex position. And that Videl was actually leaning against the wall in the corner, biting her lower lip. 

"Damn, why you gotta make the brat look sexy?" she asked, adjusting how much weight was on which foot. 

Dende's face came into view, and he was giving Videl a smirk. 

"Something's gotta make you wanna breed with him, right?" 

Videl picked up a pillow and threw it at him. 

"Is that why you invited me to watch?" 

"Not really. I mostly just wanted to show him off." 

Videl drank the canned tea in her hand. Trunks furrowed his eyebrows. He hadn't seen any of those last time, and Videl and Dende both looked significantly older than before. He couldn't see Gohan's face from this angle. He wasn't sure how much older they were, though. 

"And what better way to celebrate our victory of taking over Chow Castle?" Dende added, holding his hand out. Videl bent down, picked up another canned tea, then tossed it at Dende. Dende straightened up and sat on the edge of the bed, now clearly no longer in a sex position with Gohan. He popped the tab. "King Piccolo rules the world now, and we reap the most benefits of it." 

"Master Piccolo, Nail, S'Cargo, Mollusk, and you reap the most benefits. We benefit from their and your benefits," Gohan corrected, sliding into view and sitting on Dende's other side. Neither were wearing pants or underwear, but Trunks pointedly focused on faces. 

If Gohan wasn't already eighteen, he would be soon. He looked very much like the Gohans that Trunks had met when they had reached adulthood. Since Videl talked like they hadn't had sex or had Pan yet, Gohan might've been seventeen right then. Which would've made Videl nineteen or twenty. 

Trunks felt Tenshi tugging insistently at his arm, and Trunks turned his head towards her for a moment, not planning on wasting too much time not looking at the three in the room. 

Tenshi pointed at what else was in the closet with them. His eyes widened when he saw what it was. 

The closet held an altar inside. On it were tributes to dead children, photographs of Namekians with missing body parts or other obvious physical disabilities. It was four in all. Four, dead, hybrid children, none of whom looked like they made it past the age of two. 

They were uncomfortably close to a mourning altar, and Tenshi was squeezing herself closer to Trunks, trying to get further away from it. 

There was more talking outside, mostly about what they should do now, Dende making some comment about how he'd love to watch them make a baby and Videl giving Dende a shove. 

"That won't be for at least another month, stupid," Videl said. 

Gohan nodded. "You know that's when my birthday is." 

Dende shrugged. "I know, I know. But really, how's Piccolo gonna know if you do it a little early? It's not like he knows how long a pregnancy would last." 

"Shut up," Videl said, blushing a bit. 

"Master Piccolo said I had to be eighteen, so I'm going to be eighteen," Gohan said. 

He then stood up and slipped his gi back on. He then left the bedroom. 

Videl finished off her tea. 

"Thanks for the show, Dende. I've gotta go too, though, they'll be wondering where we are." 

Dende sighed. "Right. I have studying I have to catch up on, anyway. With that big new library, there's a bunch of cataloging to do." 

They all left the bedroom, and Tenshi shoved the door open once she was sure they were in the clear. 

She got as far away from the mourning altar as possible, her body shivering. Trunks got out of the closet more slowly. 

"Do you know where we are?" Trunks asked, trying to get her mind off of the mourning altar (and the fact that they had just heard her parent have sex with a man who was not her other parent). 

"Dende's room. In the Chow Castle. Where I grew up. It's next to Metro West, where - "

"My mom lives...." Trunks finished. 

Tenshi nodded, holding her arm with the opposite hand. 

Trunks went over to Dende's window to look out at the newly captured Chow Castle. His eyes widened as he saw dead bodies on display in the courtyard below. 

The bodies of Yamcha, Krillin, Tenshinhan, Master Roshi, Chiaotzu, and other fighters were impaled by spears stuck in the ground. A few of the bodies were slowly sliding down to the ground, pulled down by gravity, while others just hung there. 

Tenshi walked up behind him, and her eyes widened as she recognized some of the faces as from the Time Patrols. Good men. Men who were her parents' friends in the main timeline. Men who had been her grandfather's friends and no doubt had felt incredible grief when they discovered Goku's and Chichi's bodies, alongside their dead baby. Goku without his head. Men who had been wanting to avenge their friends, and only met their deaths instead.

"Oh god.... Dr. Brief was friends with all of them.... Wasn't she?" Tenshi asked. 

Trunks nodded. "She was...." 

"Fuck.... No wonder she hated me...." 

Trunks turned his head to look at her, but her eyes were completely trained on the dead bodies. 

Time sped up around them, and they found themselves in a different part of Chow Castle. 

They turned around from the hallway window, hoping the images of the decomposing bodies still hanging in the courtyard would not haunt them for the rest of their lives. They watched as Videl walked down the hall, holding a pregnancy stick. Gohan was walking alongside her, looking over her shoulder. 

"What's it say?" 

"It says we won't have to do that again if we don't want to, if King Piccolo doesn't insist on it. We're having a baby." 

Gohan smiled. "That's good. Should we tell him together?" 

"That's probably for the best." Videl sighed. 

They walked together to the throne room, and Tenshi and Trunks slowly followed. Trunks still felt chilled from the image of the Z warriors dead in the court yard.

Tenshi and Trunks felt rather relieved that they were so much farther behind Videl and Gohan when Videl and Gohan pushed the throne room doors open and Videl let out a disgusting noise. 

"Ew!" 

She immediately closed the door and turned her back to it. Gohan, however, kept the door he had opened propped open, eyes wide. 

"Did not need to see that! Ew ew ew!" 

"What's happening?" Trunks whispered. Tenshi shrugged at first, but then she heard the noises and groaned. 

"God damn it...!" 

"What? What's wrong?" 

Tenshi plugged her ears. "He's getting an effing blow job." 

"Ewwww," Trunks said, blanching a little. 

Gohan's grip on the door was tightening, and Videl looked over at Gohan to see that he was getting green with envy and flushed with anger. 

"Gohan. Gohan no." 

Videl grabbed Gohan's arm and pulled him away from the door, pushing it closed in front of him. Gohan just glared at the door in front of him. 

"Gohan...." 

Gohan turned away from her, wrenching his arm out of her grip, then started running. He ran down the hall and out of the castle, and Tenshi and Trunks ran after him, forgetting to stay out of sight. Though no one stopped them.... 

Gohan arrived at a place that wouldn't be missed much. Then he started to completely destroy whatever he could get his hands on. All nearby people ran for cover and to hide, but Tenshi and Trunks watched while standing fairly in the open. He destroyed concrete and crates and asphalt until he ran out of steam. He bit his lower lip hard, drawing blood, and fought not to start crying. 

Videl ended up going to Piccolo with the news of her pregnancy alone. 

She stood before him in the throne room, body trembling and a frown on her face. She held up the pregnancy stick. 

"Gohan and I are having a baby, Your Majesty...." 

Piccolo smirked, clearly proud of them and not interested in why Videl was frowning. 

"Very good. This will mean you'll be on maternity leave from the warrior faction for the duration of your pregnancy, but it'll be worth it. Make sure you consult with Dende about your diet and exercise." 

"Yes, sir...." 

"Where's Gohan?" 

"Outside...." 

"Bring him here. I want to congratulate him." 

"Yes, sir...." 

Videl then went to go get Gohan. 

Tenshi and Trunks sought a hiding spot when they felt Videl's ki coming closer and remembered 'oh shit, we're supposed to be hiding.' 

"Gohan? He wants to talk to you...." 

Gohan stood up from his kneeling position on the ground, then walked past her back towards the castle, not talking to her or looking at her. Videl sighed heavily, then headed for the dining hall. She was hungry. 

Gohan went to the throne room, clearly pissed off. 

Piccolo was smirking as he greeted him. "Congratulations on your accomplishment with Videl." 

Gohan spoke through gritted teeth. "Thank you." 

Piccolo frowned, picking up on Gohan's attitude. 

"Is something the matter?" 

Gohan's expression darkened. 

"What was that whore doing in here with you?" 

Piccolo raised an eyebrow high. 

"Excuse me?" 

"I saw him. On his knees before you." 

"And? It's none of your business, and you don't get a say in the matter." 

Gohan gritted his teeth harder, then harshly responded with, "If you need _anything, I can provide it_ and I'm _old enough_ to provide it now! You don't need - !" 

"That is not for you to decide," Piccolo said, standing up and raising his voice. "If I don't _want_ you, I won't ask for you. Have I made myself clear?" 

Hurt flashed in Gohan's eyes, and Tenshi could actually _hear_ his heartbeat racing in a way it normally did when he feared for his life. 

Trunks sighed heavily beside her, and she knew what he was thinking. 

The Stockholm Syndrome made him feel like if he wasn't meeting Piccolo's every need, then he was in danger of being killed, like Radditz. And the others. Gohan saw this as a threat to his life, whereas Piccolo wasn't even entertaining the idea of killing Gohan right then.... 

Fuck. 

"Yes. Sir." 

Piccolo furrowed his eyebrows as Gohan turned and walked out without actually being dismissed. 

Time sped up around Trunks and Tenshi, and they found themselves in a later scene in the throne room. Piccolo burst into the throne room, holding tightly onto Gohan's arm. He was bloodied and bruised, and Piccolo threw him across the throne room. Gohan skidded across the floor, a rather painful sounding squeak striking through the air as he did so. 

"Just what the hell was that out there!? You refused a direct order and the enemy got a fucking good shot in, almost costing us the battle! Just what in the world were you _thinking_!?" 

Gohan stayed down on the ground, curling in on himself, trying to ease the pain. 

Piccolo stomped up to Gohan and grabbed the back of his head, forcing him to make eye contact with him. 

"You take orders from _me_ and no one else! I own you! I thought you understood that!" 

Gohan, somehow, was laughing, and that confused Piccolo, Tenshi, and Trunks. Gohan gave Piccolo a dirty little smirk that was very unlike him. 

"Really? You own me? Because . . . I wouldn't have thought so. With you how behave." 

Piccolo glared at him. 

"Just what is that supposed to mean?" 

Gohan leered at Piccolo. 

"If you really owned me, you'd have fucked me already." 

Piccolo snarled at Gohan, then rather violently threw him away from him. He stood up, then kicked Gohan in the stomach for good measure. Gohan cried out in pain, spit flying from his mouth. 

"Get the hell out of my throne room." 

Gohan managed to get back to his feet and slowly walked away, and Piccolo stomped up to his throne and sat down upon it. He was left alone in the room in silence, and he cursed to himself under his breath. He brought a nail to his lips and bit it, measuring his options. 

Tenshi could see his brain working, and it made her sick to her stomach to realize what his train of thought must be. 

If he didn't have sex with Gohan at this point, Gohan would continue to act out and become a problem. And he couldn't have that. 

She was realizing she was conceived as a way to keep her dad under her father's control. Had she not seen what she had seen in the time scroll before this point, she would not have minded that at all. But now, now that she knew that "I wanted to serve your father" wasn't really true in the way she had understood it as a child, it . . . it made her sick to her stomach. 

This wasn't the loving relationship she had been raised to believe it was, and it was getting hard to breathe. 

Trunks put his hand on her shoulder, noticing her distress, and she put her hand on top of his, seeking comfort from it. 

Piccolo sighed, then yelled for another slave to bring him his tea. 

Time sped forward again, but just by a day. The sun set, then rose again, then traveled through the sky, then stopped at the exact position it was at before. 

Piccolo ordered another slave to bring Gohan to him. 

When Gohan arrived, Piccolo made sure he was sitting imposingly on his throne. 

"Everyone else, leave. Gohan, come up here." 

They obeyed their orders, and Gohan stepped closer to the throne. He was still bruised from yesterday. 

"Undress," Piccolo ordered. 

Gohan stood there, uncomprehending for a moment. 

"Are you going to make me ask twice?" Picoclo asked. 

"N-no, sir!" 

Gohan did as asked, one article of clothing at a time. At first, it was hurried, to make up for not picking up on his meaning immediately. But then he slowed down, attempted to make it sexy. It wasn't that sexy. 

Tenshi could tell from Piccolo's face that this wasn't about arousal or sexual desire. No, this decision was all about power. 

Tenshi remembered what Piccolo had said to Nail about not feeling sexual attraction. Was . . . all of his sexual encounters about power and nothing more? Was . . . any of it just because? Or about love? 

Why would he need to exert power over Nail? Or was it not about Nail but the kingdom needing heirs? 

"Now get over here and get me hard," Piccolo said, sounding like he was struggling with not sounding bored. 

Tenshi turned her face away, and Trunks chose not to watch as well. 

Soon Tenshi was plugging her ears, leaving Trunks to be the only one listening to it. If the scroll wanted to take them back to the Time Vault, now would be a good time.... 

They were not so lucky. Trunks simply let Tenshi know when the sex noises had stopped, and Trunks dared to take a peek first. 

Gohan was definitely nude, but that actually wasn't what cause Trunks to blush upon looking. Gohan's mouth was locked with Piccolo's, and Trunks became aware that he was witnessing the conception of the woman beside him. He quickly pulled his head back behind the pillar. 

"It's not safe to look yet." 

"Dammit...." 

Just then, time sped forward once again, and Tenshi and Trunks found themselves not in the castle at all. No, they were in a different, but familiar, place. 

Trunks's eyes widened. 

"We're in Metro West! More specifically - " 

"Capsule Corp!" Tenshi said. 

They looked at each other, then quickly sought out ki signals to see who was in the area. Bulma, her parents, and . . . Piccolo! 

Uh oh. 

They hurried to where they felt Piccolo's ki, and sure enough, he was with Bulma and her parents. 

He held Mrs. Briefs by the throat. He was glaring at Bulma. 

"If you want your mother to live, you _will_ do as I say! I am the King of the World now and what I say goes! Understand?" 

Bulma gritted her teeth and shut her eyes tightly. 

"All right! I'll do what you want! Just put her down!" 

Piccolo did as he said he would, letting Mrs. Briefs drop once Bulma succumbed. 

"Good. Now, what do you humans know about disabled babies?" 

That was the moment the scroll decided to end on. It then deposited Trunks and Tenshi in the Time Vault. 

Tenshi's head was spinning, and she had to sit down and process everything. Or maybe try to pretend she hadn't seen anything.... 

She was nothing but a tool. A tool to keep Gohan under Piccolo's control. Was . . . was everything just because of that? Did . . . had Father not loved her at all? Was it all a lie? A trick? A ploy? 

Trunks gritted his teeth. 

"Your father was a disgusting, raping creep." 

Tenshi almost couldn't hear him, she was too buried in her thoughts. 

"He wasn't . . . you don't know that...." 

Trunks looked at her with disbelief. 

"You honestly think any of that was consensual?" 

"Daddy . . . Daddy wanted it...." 

"He had been brainwashed for years - !" 

But Trunks changed his mind about pressing it. He saw how far away her eyes were. She wasn't focused on him or the wall or the door or anything. She was just staring across from her. 

He frowned, getting worried. 

"Let's . . . let's get some rest, okay? Let's not think about it." 

Tenshi nodded, then stood up and followed him out of the Time Vault.


	16. Cell Games

There were a few questions Tenshi still had about her father and dad. Did something specific happen between Daddy and Dende to cause Dende to be so bitter? Or was that just the natural chain of events of Daddy getting with Father? Because it wasn't really like Father to share.... Did Father love Daddy? Did he love her? She knew Daddy loved Father, more than anything, and loved her equally as much.... Mama Vi and Daddy were best friends, so there was no doubt in her mind that, while they were not in love, that they cared deeply for each other.... 

Was Father . . . ? 

But she didn't want to go back into the scroll. She didn't need to know the answers that badly. And . . . she honestly felt that if she could just ask them herself, she'd get the answers she wanted. But . . . it wasn't possible to ask the dead questions. Was it? 

She knew that Otherworld was where the dead went after they died. But there were so many different parts of Otherworld, and so many living gods and aliens and magical beings lived in Otherworld as well. It could take years to find her family.... Was it even worth it? 

She didn't know. All she knew was that she had work to do as part of the Time Patrol. 

What had started out as something to do just because she was aimless and purposeless in her new surroundings was quickly becoming a very convenient distraction and a way to keep her training up. 

But she was also aware that her likability was low among her peers. She couldn't bring herself to care that much. She couldn't bring herself to even think about most of them. Really the only person in TokiToki she gave two cents worth of thought about was Trunks and sometimes the Supreme Kai of Time. 

She wanted to know where the Kai was and what her meeting was about. If it was about her, if their argument was about her and what was going to happen to her. She knew that if she didn't prove herself to the Supreme Kai of Time, that she'd be sent back to her timeline and consequently be killed by that monster.... 

She didn't want to die. 

She found that she was basically just waiting for Towa and Mira to strike again and training while she waited. 

She took a break from kicking the shit out of a punching bag, then walked across the TokiToki shopping area to get more animal broth and jugs of water. She found it odd that there just wasn't . . . running water anywhere in this place, and the last time she had tried to take water from that stupid bird's lake, Trunks had thrown a hissy fit. She didn't quite understand what the big deal was, but since she had been worried his blood pressure would make him explode, she relented and left the lake alone. 

She paid the little robot cashier, then carried her water and broth towards her apartment. She paused and looked over to the side of the walkway, hearing her name. Her ears twitched and she focused in on the conversation. 

"- bruise didn't go away for _days_ , and did you hear what he called him?" 

"Yeah, I did, can you believe him? Just who does he think he is?" 

Tenshi frowned, realizing they were misgendering her. She thought about correcting them, but their conversation continued before she had made a clear-headed decision. 

"Whoever he is, he's a spoiled brat monopolizing Trunks's time. Have you seen them disappear together all the time? Where do they even go?" 

"Time Vault, as far as I can tell." 

"Do you think it's special missions?" 

"Why would someone like that get all the special ones?"

"Shenron did bring him here...." 

"But with that attitude? He should be made to earn that privilege like the rest of us." 

"But I ain't like the rest of you," Tenshi interjected, standing behind them. 

The three of them jumped out of their skin and turned around, seeing her there. She bared her teeth at them in a menacing smirk. 

"For future reference, it's not 'he' and it's not 'Tenshi' from you maggots, it's Queen Tenshi, at the _very_ least." 

The taller, human-looking one scoffed. "Queen? Of what, your ego?" 

Tenshi's smirk widened. 

"Of your mother's wet pussy." 

That pissed him off, just what she wanted. 

"Why you - !" 

The other two held him back, but Tenshi was itching for a real fight. Not that she thought they'd be able to deliver, but it'd be fun at the very least. 

"Just what's your problem!?" The tiny purple one asked. Tenshi had no idea what gender it was supposed to be. It kind of looked like jelly given humanoid form. It was funny to see what was standing behind it through it. Very amusing. 

"Don't forget - it's _Queen_ , not King nor he. When not using Queen, it better be Your Majesty." 

She then started to walk past them, still carrying her water and broth over her shoulder. 

She then remembered that she had let Trunks drop the Queen title entirely, and she found that she didn't quite mind or feel offended. For the first time in forever. Huh. That was a little weird. 

She had made it to her apartment and literally just put her items in the fridge when she heard the beeping in her scouter go off. She tapped the button on the side. 

"What up?" she asked. 

"Quickly! Get to the Time Vault! There's been another time shift!" 

"On it." 

Tenshi opened her apartment window, then just flew out of it and headed for the Time Vault. She could see the three gossipers from before watching her with curious eyes. She smirked, feeling smug about the fact that they were totally jealous of her getting to do special missions. They certainly weren't fighting Mira and Towa's timeline alterations. And the Dragon hadn't brought them to TokiToki either. 

Maybe she was letting it get to her head, but it felt _good_.

And she needed a pick-me-up after everything. 

She quickly arrived at the Time Vault and met Trunks at the scroll. 

They peered at what the timeline alteration was. 

"Okay, so . . . this Cell guy. What is he exactly?" 

"He's a biological android created by Dr. Gero." 

"Biological android?" 

"He's genetically engineered from the DNA of the Earth's greatest, most powerful fighters. In this timeline, he also has some of Frieza's DNA. In yours, he would've had Goku's, Piccolo's, Krillin's, Yamcha's, and Tenshinhan's. Maybe even Chichi's. In this one, he's all of those, and my father and Frieza." 

"Wait, Father's DNA is a part of him?"

"Yes, that's right." 

"So he's - he's a Namekian hybrid too?" 

Trunks had never thought of it like that before but - "Y-yes, I suppose he is." 

Tenshi stared at how Cell looked in the scroll and thought back to what he looked like in her timeline. 

"Why isn't he disabled in some way too?" 

If they were both Namekian, Saiyan, _and_ human.... 

"That . . . is a good question, especially considering that all your hybrid half-siblings . . . were." He was about to say dead, but he didn't really want to think about that and just how fragile Tenshi's existence was. She held so much power, and yet.... "Dr. Gero must've engineered them out of his system somehow. Maybe that's why he looks part-bug...." 

"So, what? He used, like, cicada DNA or something to prevent undesirable traits?" 

"Uh, maybe?" 

"Hmph. Eugenic bastard." 

Trunks cleared his throat. 

"We should get a move on." 

"Hm? You're coming with?" 

"Well . . . just in case something happens, like with Frieza. Is that okay?" 

"Sure, but, uh, aren't . . . you already there?" 

She pointed at Trunks in the scroll. 

"You have a good point. But it's a risk we're just going to have to take." 

"If you say so." 

She wasn't going to argue, really. She liked his company.

They jumped into the scroll, and Tenshi announced her presence with a full-of-attitude kick, punting Hercule into a pillar and landing right in front of Cell. 

"Who are you?" Cell asked, and Tenshi just smirked at him. "The silent type, eh? Are you a challenger?" 

"Hell yeah," she said.

"Hey! Stop showing me up!" Hercule called over, climbing back into the ring. 

It became a two-on-one, with Tenshi protecting Hercule as much as she could. Cell measured how much power Tenshi was putting out and was rather impressed. 

Trunks stayed nearby, his scouter attached to his face so he could monitor Tenshi's vitals and power level. They both could hear Krillin and the others talking about Cell, Tenshi, and Hercule, but they seemed not to notice that a second Trunks was there for the longest time. 

When Hercule was struck by Towa's magic, Trunks brought attention to himself. 

"TENSHI! They've targeted Hercule! Be careful!" 

Tenshi didn't waste any important breathing with responding as she changed targets and wailed on Hercule instead as he started to glow purple. 

Cell stared at the two before him, then turned his head to see Trunks. 

"Trunks? But if you're there . . . " 

He turned his head to look at the Trunks on the cliff with the other Z warriors, who looked just as shocked to see another him as everyone else was. 

"Who's they?" Future Trunks asked, but Goku jumped down into the ring with Cell. 

"I have no idea what's going on other there, but I think we should fight." 

Cell shrugged. "Can't argue with that." 

So while Tenshi and Hercule fought, Cell and Goku went head-to-head. Even with the power-boost, Hercule still wasn't nearly as much of a threat as Cell or Frieza, so it was just a matter of time of releasing Hercule from Towa's mind control. 

By the time that Gohan took to the ring, Tenshi successfully defeated Hercule, then flew over to monitor the fight between Cell and Gohan. 

The Cell Juniors were already spawned when she got there, and she was already having some trouble breathing. She wasn't at her limit, but . . . that was a lot of Cell Juniors. 

"There's more of them than there should be!" Trunks said, flying to her side, joining in on the fight. 

"Great. Just great." 

"Are you doing all right? Do you need to head back?" 

"No, I'm fine," Tenshi said, sort of lying. But she was starting to watch the Cell Juniors, and she was getting angry. 

It wasn't fair. It wasn't fair that they were so strong so easily and could show it off, while she.... 

While she struggled to breathe and bruised too easily and would bleed to death. 

It - wasn't - _fair_! 

Tenshi let out a scream as she threw herself at the Cell Juniors, doing away with them with frightful ease, startling everyone and even bringing Cell and Gohan to a pause in their fight. 

"Whoa - ho! Perhaps I should be fighting him instead," Cell said, sounding impressed. 

Tenshi glowered at him. 

"For fuck's sake, I'm a GIRL!" Tenshi shouted, getting rid of the last Cell Junior. 

The tension in the air was very quiet and rather thick. 

"Wait, really?" Goku asked, and Tenshi let out a frustrated groan. 

"Uh, sorry!" Krillin shouted down, not knowing what else to say. 

"It's not fucking fair! None of it is fair!" 

"Tenshi?" 

"Why is it so much easier for him to show his power!? Shenron said I was the strongest and yet he's creating _little hims_ and they're just as strong and they're all Namekian hybrids like me, but I'm like _this_ and the only one of my hybrid siblings who fucking _lived_ and _it's not fair, why does he get to do shit like fight without breaking a sweat and reproducing_!?" 

Trunks went to her side and put a hand on her shoulder, trying to calm her down, but she pushed him away. 

"Tenshi...." 

Cell, stunned by the revelation that he and this new fighter were actually technically the same species, looked down at his own hands, then looked over at her, taking note of her appearance, her air tank and nasal cannula. They did not look similar in the slightest, and yet.... 

"You are only part Namekian?" Cell asked. "What are the other parts?"

"Saiyan and human," Tenshi said through gritted teeth. 

"Tenshi....!" Trunks warned.

"Really?" Cell said, surprised. Everyone was. "Were you also made in a lab?" 

"N-no, I was conceived...." 

"That's enough," Trunks said, getting increasingly nervous about imparting information about Tenshi's origin to this timeline. 

The Z warriors were not connecting the dots, but Cell's brain was lighting up with the connections. He found things in Tenshi's appearance that connected her to the other Z fighters. Piccolo's connection was obvious due to her green skin and antennae, but he saw traces of Goku in her eyes. Cell's eyes moved from Tenshi to Gohan, subtly, and only Trunks and Tenshi noticed he was doing that. 

But Cell said nothing. 

Future Trunks was far too preoccupied that the other him before him was very familiar with this . . . woman he had never met before, which meant this must've been a him from even the more distant future. But why was he - they - here?

The situation was interrupted when Gohan's power suddenly spiked for no apparent reason. Gohan started screaming and begun to glow purple. 

"It's Towa! She's here!" 

"Trunks! Her ki is coming from other there!" Tenshi pointed across the wasteland. 

"Then let's go!" 

Trunks and Tenshi then flew off, towards Towa and Mira. 

The Z warriors stared after them - at least until Gohan clocked Cell in the face. Cell knew then that he couldn't afford to be distracted by a fellow hybrid, no matter how interesting she was and what her existence indicated about Dr. Gero's work. Essentially, Tenshi was what Cell could have been, had he happened naturally. And she looked so different from him and - and was stronger than him, and yet could not unlock the potential as easily as he could. It was fascinating. Perhaps - could the fact that his potential was so easily unlockable be the very reason he was weaker than she? Was there simply no way to actually contain such levels of power in a typical healthy body? 

Just what was her power level? 

Tenshi was still angry over everything - her parents, her timeline, her ineffectiveness compared to Cell - and she couldn't wait to truly unleash that anger on someone. 

"Trunks? What are you doing here?" Towa demanded as they landed near them. 

"Putting an end to your reign of terror!" Trunks said. 

Towa stepped behind Mira, and Mira stepped forward. 

"And who's your friend?" Mira asked, having not met Tenshi before. 

"Queen Tenshi, and I'm gonna kick your ass!" Tenshi yelled, flying at him without stopping to consider a strategy. 

"TENSHI!" Trunks called out, startled and worried. 

Mira was stronger than expected. He kicked her in the stomach - hard- and she flew across the dirt clearing. She could feel her insides bruising. Fuck! 

" _Dammit_!" 

Tenshi screamed to the heavens, her power level sky-rocketing with her anger and frustration. A golden aura appeared around her, and Trunks's jaw dropped as he witnessed her taking the Super Saiyan form. The very form she was so afraid of. The form that triggered PTSD-related panic attacks. She was capable of it - !

But before anyone could even utter the words "A Namekian can go Super Saiyan?", the transformation cut out, and Tenshi started coughing up blood. She doubled over and retched, hugging her arms around her stomach area. Purple blood stained the sand beneath her. Her eyes rolled into the back of her head, and she collapsed onto the ground, unconscious but not dead. Yet. 

" _TENSHI_!" 

Trunks hurried to her side, but Mira got there first. Mira stared down at Tenshi's body, then lifted his leg as though to kick her away. 

"Don't worry. I'll end your pathetic, crippled existence." 

Trunks went Super Saiyan in a blink of an eye and unsheathed his sword, screaming as he swung it at Mira. Mira yelled as Trunks sliced his clothes and skin open with the blade, jumping back away from Tenshi. 

Trunks reached her side, then punched the button on his scouter. 

" _I need back-up immediately in the main timeline, and I need the best damn medics we have! Time Patroller down, Time Patroller down! She has severe internal bleeding!"_

As he spoke of internal bleeding, Tenshi coughed weakly, blood splattering onto Trunks's clothes. 

Fear gripped Trunks tightly. He had no idea what he'd do if he lost her. She was his responsibility, he brought her into this job, and she was lost in this realm of existence. No family and her memories tainted by the realizations of the reality of her timeline. He was her only, living friend, and if she died, it would be his fault. 

Hakusa and Percel appeared, then Trunks and Tenshi went back to TokiToki. 

Tenshi did not regain consciousness until hours later, after she had been fully healed by the medics. Which had been difficult because they had trouble locating the source of all the internal bleeding. The medics were at a loss as to what had even happened to trigger the internal bleeding. They had never seen anything like it. 

"Whatever happened, it's destroyed her insides. If you had called us in just a little later, she wouldn't have made it." 

Trunks was feeling sick to his stomach. 

Hakusa and Percel returned before Tenshi woke back up, both battered badly and frowning. 

"We drove them off, but they succeeded in getting what they wanted.... Whatever that was," Hakusa admitted, head bowed. 

"We're sorry," Percel said, equally as ashamed. 

"You did your best. And I had called you at so short notice...." 

Hakusa and Percel looked at each other, realizing that no matter how badly they felt about the situation, Trunks felt worse. 

"How's she doing?" Hakusa asked. 

She wished she hadn't asked when Trunks's expression became more upset. 

All Tenshi remembered was getting kicked and then getting really angry. She didn't remember the power surge she had felt. When she woke, she didn't quite know how she got back to TokiToki, but she could take a guess that Trunks brought her. 

Her body ached so badly. She couldn't make herself sit up, and when the medic saw that she was awake, she told her to stay laying down. 

"No problem, lady...." Even Tenshi's voice sounded weak. 

"You're all right now, but your body is going to hurt for a long while. You should take it easy. Are you thirsty?" 

"Yes...." 

The medic gave her a glass of water, then left. A few moments later, Trunks was allowed in and he went right to her side. 

"I'm so sorry this happened, it all happened so fast, I - !" 

"Trunks. Shut up." 

Trunks closed his mouth, not offended but a swirl of other negative emotions. Mostly targeted at himself. 

"Just tell me what happened. I don't really know...." 

"You - " Trunks hesitated, wondering how she'd feel if she knew she could go Super Saiyan. But lying to her was dangerous, he reasoned, so he told the truth. "You went Super Saiyan, but your body couldn't handle the sudden burst of power, so it - it ripped you apart on the inside. All I could do was call for back-up and bring you back here. Mira had tried to finish you off, but I stopped him." 

Tenshi processed the information. 

"Fuck me...." 

"P-pardon?" 

"Just - fuck everything. Fuck that stupid goddamn Super Monkey form, fuck Towa and Mira, fuck time travel...." 

Silence stretched out between them, Tenshi too tired and aching to even think straight. The tone in which Tenshi said the word monkey felt like an extra punch to the gut on top of how horrible Trunks was already feeling about the situation. He reasoned with himself that now was certainly not the time to talk to her about how the word wasn't appropriate to describe a Saiyan. Besides, she was entitled to the statement, after what the Super Saiyan form had done to her today.... That's what he told himself. Regardless, it certainly wasn't the right time to talk to her about it. 

"I'm sorry," Trunks said. "I'm so, _so_ sorry." 

"It's not your fault," Tenshi said. "Could you do me a favor?" 

"Of course." 

Trunks was so eager to make it up to her. If she hadn't felt like such crap, she'd have taken more advantage of it. 

"I don't think the medics know I need protein. Can you get me some hot chicken broth?" 

"Sure I can. I'll be right back. Do you want anything else?" 

"Eh. Medic said to take it easy, but there's not exactly any entertainment that's not sparring in TokiToki...." 

"I can arrange something." 

"Thanks." 

Trunks then left to get her the chicken broth, and Tenshi let herself rest her eyes while he was gone. 

Trunks came back with not just broth, but a portable television with a DVD player. There was a small collection of various DVDs. They were all Disney movies, and he figured she wouldn't have seen any of them before. 

Tenshi opened her eyes when he came back and carefully drank the chicken broth as he worked with the DVD player and asked if she thought she had a preference over which ones to watch first. 

"Just fuck me up," she said, which Trunks took to mean just put one in. 

He had to go take care of the paperwork for the mission and Tenshi's hospitalization, but after that he came back to find her watching more of the movies. 

"You busy?" she asked weakly from the bed. 

"Not now." 

"Then come over here and watch with me." 

She scooted over in the bed. Trunks hesitated, stunned that she'd suggest that. 

"W-what?" 

"I don't have cooties, if that's what you're worried about." 

Hesitantly, Trunks walked over to the bed, then sat on it. 

"Get comfortable," Tenshi said. 

"I am comfortable," Trunks half-lied. 

"Whatever. If you change your mind, feel free to lay down." 

Trunks didn't change his mind, but he rather liked sitting this close to her. 


	17. Androids

Trunks had ended up sleeping in the hospital bed beside Tenshi, curled up on top of the covers rather like a cat. Tenshi had done her best to give him enough room to be comfortable, but there wasn't too much that she could do without getting out of the bed. The nurse had been rather emphatic about her staying in bed, even if she didn't sleep. When she wasn't meditating, she watched more of the Disney movies while Trunks slept. 

Trunks ended up waking up to the beginnings of a more recent Disney channel movie and watched it with her as he ate his breakfast (which a nurse insisted on bringing to him as they delivered Tenshi her animal broth and water). 

Tenshi was allowed to leave the hospital wing by the time lunch came around, and Tenshi honestly couldn't stop singing the lyrics from one of the songs from the movie they watched that morning. 

"I know what _boys_ like, boys like _girls_ like _me_! I know what _girls_ like, girls like _boys_ like _me_! I know what _boys_ like, boys like _girls_ like _me_! Like me, like me, like me, like me, like me, like me, like _me_!" 

Trunks couldn't help but smile as he followed her through TokiToki. 

"What was that movie called again?" Tenshi asked. 

"Teen Beach Movie. There's a sequel, too." 

"Really!?" 

She turned around and got really up in his face, and he was startled for a moment. He was a little surprised she had enjoyed it so much, but her eyes sparkled with happiness, and despite his surprise, his smile widened. 

"We can watch it sometime later." 

"Awesome! At that theatre, or can we set up one of those magic boxes in my apartment?" 

Trunks laughed a little. "It's not a magic box, it's a TV. It works on electricity." 

"Ohhhh, okay." 

"But we can set one up in your apartment, if you really want one." 

"Yes please~!" 

Tenshi stopped walking for a second, then started laughing to herself. 

"What's up?" Trunks asked. 

"Oh, nothing. I just don't remember that word coming so easily." 

"What word?" 

"Please." 

Trunks snorted a little and shook his head. 

"I guess you would've been used to getting what you wanted without it." 

"This is true. I was rarely refused, and I'd take what I wanted anyway if I was. With a few exceptions...." 

She didn't like thinking about why there were exceptions. 

"That's the perk of being queen!" Tenshi said, getting her mind off of it immediately. 

Trunks was still smiling. 

"I suppose it is." 

Something occurred to Tenshi for a moment, then she turned her head to look at him. 

"Hey, isn't your dad a prince? Doesn't that make you one too?" 

"Yeah, technically. But it was just me and my mom, and while my mom was the owner of Capsule Corp., things in my timeline were so rough that I really didn't have any more than anyone else did, and we shared everything that we did have. While we had more money, Mom would buy what food was there and made sure everyone had something to eat. But having money soon was worthless, so I don't really remember what it was like having money." 

Tenshi listened without saying anything, wanting to be respectful of his experiences. She . . . really couldn't relate. This Time Patrol job was her first time actually working to earn money, but she had been getting money and since she didn't need to eat, she had been doing pretty good with her money. It wasn't anything like she had had before, but she could see how it could add up. But she magicked clothes for herself, just needed broth and water, and everything else was superficial and fanciful. 

She couldn't imagine needing to buy food in order to eat - effectively paying money just to live. If push came to shove, Tenshi could just kill what she needed to boil in water for protein, and water was everywhere. But food . . . . 

"You're still a prince, though. You certainly have the jaw and build for it." 

"Thank you. I think," Trunks said, blushing a little. 

"No, really, in the right clothes, you'd look absolutely stunning and perfect to attend royal meetings and stuff. And you're super cute without all that, and smart and sweet, so you'd have literally all the princesses killing each other to get at you." 

Trunks was blushing more. 

"I don't know about that - " 

Tenshi flashed a grin at him. 

" _Trust_ me. No one out of the kingdom was interested in me, admittedly, but within the kingdom, I had men and women clamoring to keep me _company_ , if you know what I mean. One time, two really hot guys got into a legit fist fight over me, and while they did that, a _gorgeous_ woman slid on by and made an offer I couldn't refuse. It was fun." 

Trunks rubbed his arm a little, feeling uncomfortable. Though he couldn't really . . . describe why. Yes, he didn't really feel comfortable with the way she talked about sex so freely, but that somehow . . . wasn't quite it. But what was it? 

"Um. Who . . . were they exactly?" Trunks asked. 

"Whores from the brothel." 

Oh. Of . . . course they were. 

"And they were . . . fighting over you?" 

"Yeah. The way it worked back home, I just had to walk in, shout who wanted it, then the ones that did lined up." 

That . . . actually sounded not as bad as Trunks had been imagining. It made him feel a teensy bit better.

"So it . . . wasn't like you ordered them or anything." 

"Of course not! Who do you take me for?" 

Trunks shrugged. "I dunno, I just . . . don't know how all that works." 

He also _knew_ that Piccolo in her timeline ordered people to do plenty they didn't want to do, and it was just . . . comforting to know that Tenshi, regardless of how she felt about slavery and Saiyans, still understood the importance of consent. At least, as much as she could understand the concept, considering slavery was a thing in her timeline that she was raised to believe was just the natural order of things. 

He had a lot of hope in her. He had faith in the goodness in her, and he hoped that he could nudge her in the right direction. He knew he couldn't force her to be anything or do anything, and it would be wrong to force her unless she posed an actual threat to someone. But he had faith that she'd make the right decisions in the end. 

She just needed the opportunity and time, and he'd be there to help her along the way. 

They continued walking together, then stopped to get something to eat. Tenshi drank animal broth while Trunks ate, and what conversation they did have ended up being about the plots to the Disney movies they had watched together and what questions Tenshi had, discussing which movies were better and why. Trunks had a big soft spot for _Aladdin_ but Tenshi hadn't liked it due to the pop-culture references she didn't understand. She much preferred Teen Beach Movie (despite not knowing what Grease was or West Side Story) and Lilo and Stitch (even though she also did not know who Elvis was). Both of them loved The Lion King, though Tenshi was unaware of what Trunks meant when he said it was "Hamlet with lions." 

"What's _Hamlet_?" she asked, and Trunks had to explain who Shakespeare was. 

"I'll get you a copy of it," he said. 

Lost in their own little world, they failed to notice the stares they were getting or hear the whispers among their onlookers. But none of them dared to attempt to enter it until -

"There you two are," Supreme Kai of Time said. They looked up from their nutrients to look at her. What they missed was the surroundings onlookers having parted a path for her like Moses parting the ocean. While not everyone was bowing, everyone gave her the utmost respect. 

"Supreme Kai of Time," Trunks said, standing and giving a little bow of his own. 

Tenshi stayed seated and leaned back in her chair. 

"What's up?" she asked. 

Supreme Kai of Time pouted mightily, and Trunks looked over to see what Tenshi was doing - or not doing, rather. 

"Uh, Tenshi?" Trunks said in a low, hushed tone, even though Supreme Kai of Time could obviously hear him. "Stand up and give a bow." 

Tenshi looked at him. 

"Excuse me?" 

" _Bow_. Or at least stand up when addressing her. _Please_." 

"Mmmmmm, nah." 

"Tenshi...!" 

Supreme Kai of Time put her hands on her hips and groaned loudly. 

"Fine. Whatever. Be disrespectful of a _god_. It's not like I have information about what's going to happen to you and what the conditions for you staying here in TokiToki are." 

Supreme Kai of Time started to walk off, but Tenshi realized the magnitude of what Supreme Kai of Time had to say. She quickly got up and hurried after her. 

"Wait!" 

Supreme Kai of Time stopped and turned around, smiling a little bit to herself. She was definitely still mad, but the Namekian's ego wasn't so big that it was going to cause too many problems. For Supreme Kai of Time at least. The Kai was aware of the complaints that others in TokiToki have had and delivered to her desk. But truly, Tenshi had _only_ been interacting with Trunks for the most part, and that meant she wasn't causing as much trouble as she otherwise could. 

"I knew you'd want to know," she said. 

"That was what your meeting was about?" 

"Mm-hm! And here's the deal." 

Supreme Kai of Time lifted her finger. 

"You've got _one_ chance," the Kai said. "The very next time patrol that you have involving Towa and Mira. If _you_ are not the one who stops them and fixes the timeline affected by them, then you're getting sent back and we'll find another solution to the Towa and Mira issue. This means that you don't get any help from anyone else, until you get back to the Time Vault." 

"No help at all!?" Trunks said. "But Supreme Kai of Time - !" 

"That's the degree, all the way from _my_ supervisor. We Kais talked at length about the situation, and that's our decision." 

"But - !" Trunks tried again, but he was cut off once more. 

"If she can't do a time patrol without your help, she's not time patroller material, Trunks, no matter what Shenron did." 

Trunks closed his mouth and stayed silent, bowing his head and glaring at the ground beneath him. Tenshi kept her head up, understanding what this meant. 

No more life-threatening incidents in the field. No reckless fighting. No accidental Super Saiyan form. No cuts or bruises. 

She'd have to fight absolutely perfectly to survive the fight against Towa and Mira to last as long as possible in a time patrol situation without needing to go back to the Time Vault for medical attention. 

She would be lying if she said she wasn't afraid. 

"Any questions?" Supreme Kai of Time asked. 

"No," Tenshi said. 

"All right then. You take care now." 

And Supreme Kai of Time walked away. 

Ultimately . . . it was die in the field or die in her timeline. Those were her choices, essentially. 

Tenshi turned around and watched Trunks, watched as his hands balled into fists as he thought the same thing. 

"Hey...." she said, but Trunks didn't seem to hear her. 

He was wrapped up in images of her lying in the medic bed, unconscious and purple blood staining her lips and how it was all his fault, _her dying would be all his fault_. 

"Hey," she repeated, taking her hand and putting it under his chin and lifting his head to make him look at her. 

She could see how worried about her he was, and she couldn't help but feel touched by it. Despite her impending doom, she felt a warm, fuzzy feeling in her chest from seeing how much he cared. 

"It'll be okay. I'll totally kick Mira's ass next time and nothing bad's gonna happen. All I gotta do is keep my protein up, stay hydrated, and train in the meantime, right?" 

"Right...." Trunks said, not sounding convinced, but he wanted her to win, he wanted her to succeed and overcome. 

She took her hand back, then grabbed his hand and led the way to the gym. 

"And there's no time like the present to get started!" 

He trained with her for a while, but a few hours later he had to go take care of the more administrative parts of being Head of the Time Patrol. Meanwhile, she trained, then took a break for water and protein, then trained more, then another break. After finishing her full-body work-out, she refilled her oxygen tank and took time to meditate. 

She didn't move out of her meditation until she heard Trunks over the scouter. 

"Another change in history is happening! You're needed in the Time Vault!" 

Well. Here goes nothing. 

She hurried to the Time Vault, and once she got there, her eyes widened as she saw that Trunks was ceasing to be . . . solid. 

She could see through him to the scroll, watching the images in the scroll showing a dark-haired main with an orange bandana around his neck killing Trunks. 

Towa and Mira targeted Trunks's timeline and were erasing him. 

Panic shot through Tenshi like a syringe had put adrenaline directly into her veins. But she made herself keep a level head. 

Tenshi hurried to the scroll and grabbed it as Supreme Kai of Time urged Trunks not to make any sudden moves or go anywhere. 

"You're in a very fragile state right now -!" she said, then saw that Tenshi had been the first to respond to the Time Patrol call. 

Remembering what she had said before, Supreme Kai of Time failed to hide the fear on her face. Tenshi met her eyes, and she knew what she was thinking. 

This was too important for just Tenshi to go, but she had already made her announcement. Towa and Mira were involved, it was Tenshi's one chance to prove she was the right Time Patroller for the job, and she wasn't allowed to have any help. 

If Tenshi failed, Supreme Kai of Time would be responsible for not just Tenshi's death, but Trunks's as well. 

"Don't you fuck it up!" Supreme Kai of Time demanded. 

Tenshi nodded, then squeezed the scroll tightly. 

She was transported into the timeline. And the fight started immediately. 

These were the androids that had decimated Trunks's timeline, and Towa had superpowered them with her magic so that she could steal their energy. Great. Just great. 

She focused on Android 18, but the two androids were extremely good at teamwork and intentionally switched targets repeatedly, making it difficult to actually focus on either one or on keeping herself from bleeding. 

Android 17's giant, green, energy blade that flew through the sky was extremely difficult to avoid, and Tenshi narrowly avoided it the first time and watched it splinter an entire building. Definitely do not get hit by that. It would rip her body to pieces. 

But she had to protect Trunks no matter what. She couldn't let him die. It was her turn to return the favor. For her to save him instead of the other way around. 

Once she took out 18, it was easier to protect Trunks from 17, though he still had that energy blade that was the _biggest pain in the ass_ to avoid. But Tenshi pushed Trunks out of its trajectory and covered him as they waited for the blade to pass through the air. 

She could sense 17 coming towards them - not due to ki, but she just knew that he was going to be right above her shoulder once she lifted her body up to move - and she prepared to retaliate. 

"SPECIAL BEAM CANNON!" 

She blasted the canon right at 17, and it ripped a hole in his upper chest, taking his neck with it. His head lopped off and fell to the ground, and his body collapsed near it, blood and machine oil bleeding onto the concrete. 18 lay unconscious nearby, but still alive. 

Tenshi helped Trunks get to his feet, and he looked around at the androids. 

She had been too focused on saving him to notice, but he was in his Super Saiyan for right then, and Tenshi felt her panic start to spike again. 

_Daddy's skull getting crushed in that monster's hand, Father screaming Daddy's name and a rain of purple blood._

But he powered down, and Tenshi forced herself to take a deep, deep breath. 

"You - you killed one of them! Oh my God you actually killed one!" 

Trunks turned to face her, eyes bright, but she was no where to be seen. She had flown into the air, out of his sight. He looked around for her, but then shrugged and started talking to himself, how he had to tell his mother that there was one less android. Tenshi had the sinking feeling she shouldn't have done that, but he looked so happy.... 

She heard laughter to her right and turned her head. Towa was hovering there, holding her magic staff. 

"I bet you think you've helped him, don't you?" Towa said. 

Tenshi glared at her, and she laughed more. 

"You see, I actually made two changes. Without access to the time scrolls, you can't go to it, but until the time patrol is finished, you can't go back to the Time Vault to find it. So you're _stuck here_ and unable to save your precious friend." 

Her eyes widened. 

"You _bitch_!" 

Tenshi threw a punch at her, but Towa then vanished. 

She was doomed to fail. There was no way to get around it, and she would fail, Trunks would die, and then she - ! 

"How unfortunate," said another, unfamiliar voice. 

Tenshi turned around and saw a big man with weird clothes and weirder red hair. 

"But luckily for you, I can help. Would you like to go to the change?" 

He held his hand out to her, and she looked at it, weighing her options. 

She didn't have any others. 

So she reached out for his hand and took it. 

"Be sure to tell the Supreme Kai of Time I'll be seeing her soon," he said, and soon she found herself transported to a later point in Trunks's timeline. 

He seemed older, and she could hear him say something about having succeeded in helping Goku and the others. Then he spotted her, and his face lit up. 

"It's you!" 

He ran towards her, and Tenshi couldn't really remember the last time anyone had been so happy to see her. 

But they had bigger things to deal with right then. 

She saw the change before he did, but once he did, he powered up. Feeling his ki go to new heights through the Super Saiyan form made her anxiety ramp up, but she focused on Cell instead. 

Taking on Cell seemed to go more easily this time around, regardless of the power-up Towa's magic had given him. They took him out with ease, and Trunks powered down after Cell was done away with. 

"Thank you for helping me! Can you tell me your name? So I can thank you properly?"

"Uh...." What should she say? "I . . . can't tell you yet. But you'll know someday." 

"Someday? _That's_ not cryptic." 

She laughed a little and gave him a small smile. 

"You'll understand why when you find out. But...." 

She pressed a kiss against his cheek. 

"A little something to remember me by until then." 

She then felt the time scroll taking her back to the Time Vault, and she waved him goodbye. He was blushing and lifting his hand up to touch his cheek. 

She reappeared in the timeline, giving both Trunks and Supreme Kai of Time a grin. 

"Eh? How'd I do? Eh? Eh?" 

Supreme Kai of Time sighed in relief. 

"Despite not really liking your personality, I'm _so_ glad you did so well! You did it! Good job!" the Kai said. "Though you did create another parallel universe with killing Android 17, but that's manageable." 

"Uh, thanks, I guess, ha ha." 

She looked over at Trunks, and the relief that washed over her now that she saw him in solid form and unharmed was immense. Trunks rubbed the back of his neck, blushing. 

"N-now I can properly thank you, and . . . yeah, I do understand why you couldn't tell me." 

Tenshi smiled at him. She wondered how it felt to have your memories have things added to them as you're standing there, watching the changes in history happen in front of you in the time scroll. 

She supposed she'd never know, considering.... 

The exact effect it was having on Trunks was more minimal than Tenshi or even Supreme Kai of Time was thinking. Trunks didn't feel too much change in his brain. Her coming in to help him didn't change much - especially considering the Trunks who no longer had to worry about Android 17 was now an entirely different person. His memories regarding the androids remained intact. But the encounter with Cell - and the kiss on his cheek - were now carved into his memory, and all he really felt was . . . more intense versions of feelings he had already been having. In regards to Tenshi. He . . . . 

He felt very attached to her. He wanted to be with her and protect her and take care of her and.... 

And he wanted to feel her lips against his cheek once more. 

"How're you feeling?" Tenshi asked. "You're looking a little warm." 

She lifted her hand to touch his forehead. 

"I think I'm fine. I feel fine, at least," Trunks said, blushing more. 

"That's good." 

She was smiling at him, and he felt his heart melting, and - 

Did he love her?


	18. The Dead

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Content Warning: Discussion of sexuality, abusive behavior and relationships, implied incest, and this version of Gohan proving he can really be an asshole.

Dende had been wandering around the Otherworld for a long while. He wasn't sure how much time had passed. Honestly, he couldn't tell how time even _worked_ in Otherworld. But he was feeling lonely, it just being him and the souls of his dead children he had found and was carrying around in a big glass jar. He wasn't even sure if he was supposed to or allowed to have them with him this way, but no one had showed up to tell him it was improper. And he had missed them so much, even if they hadn't lived for very long in the first place.... 

But they couldn't talk to him, never having developed the capacity to use speech when each of them had died. 

As much as he had grown to hate Piccolo and couldn't let go of his anger towards Gohan, he really missed having people to talk to. And he did miss Videl, even if he had grown cool and indifferent towards her near the end of their lives. 

Otherworld was just so _big_.... 

"Dende!" he heard call from across the expanse. 

Dende turned his head, eyes widening as he recognized the person calling out to him. 

"Pan!" 

Pan ran towards him, and he met her halfway. 

He had encountered people who looked like people he knew. There had been a Gohan missing an arm and a scar over his eye who had at first been excited to see him, only for them both to learn that they were not the one they were looking for. It was then that the idea of alternate dimensions occurred to both of them, and the fact that the dimensions apparently converged in the afterlife messed with both their heads, and Dende hadn't felt comfortable enough to stay in his company. He had been both too strange and too familiar. But running into Pan was so much better. 

Pan threw her arms around him, and he pulled her in with the one arm, his other arm keeping his jar of souls close to his side. 

"I found you! I really found you!" 

She pulled away from him, and he saw that her relief and joy in finding him was nearly bringing her to tears. 

"It's so good to see you, Pan." 

"I've been looking everywhere for you and Nail! And Tenshi and King Piccolo, but I've found Mom and Daddy already. Well, really, they found me. We managed to carve out our own space out here! With some others from our timeline." 

Dende rose his eyebrows. 

"So you've run into others from other dimensions too?" 

Pan nodded. 

"There's so many.... But as soon as I mention Tenshi, it's clear who is and isn't from our dimension." 

Dende furrowed his brows together. 

"That's . . . odd. Wonder why that is." 

She shrugged. 

They walked together to where the group Pan had put together was. 

"Dende!" Videl called out, waving them over. 

Dende could see Gohan huddled against a tree, sitting on the ground and hugging his knees to his chest. A woman Dende had never met was knitting something, and there were a handful of others who Dende had never seen or met before. But he immediately saw the resemblance to Gohan in the woman's face. It occurred to him that he may be looking at Gohan's mother. The mother he had murdered. 

Dende blanched a little as he realized he actually did recognize some of the others. They had all died on the seige on King Piccolo's second castle, the one that the dog king had owned before him. The short bald one, the one with the third eye, the long-haired one with the scar over his eye, and the small white one. But he had no context for the other two.

Aside from Pan, Videl, and Gohan, everyone there was either a complete stranger or an enemy of the kingdom, and that made Dende nervous. 

Only Videl gave Dende any kind of positive look. Gohan didn't even look at him. 

"Is Gohan all right?" Dende asked. 

Pan frowned. 

"Not really.... As much as I love that I found you, I've been mostly looking for King Piccolo. If only for Daddy's sake." 

She looked over at him, and Dende understood. 

Gohan was pale and looked miserable, and he realized that the woman who must've been Gohan's mother had been knitting a blanket as she finished it, then took it over to Gohan and wrapped it around his shoulders. 

He stared in awe. She forgave him for killing her and her husband and the little baby . . . ? 

"Wait, you're not the two big ones," said the long-haired one. 

"Uh, n-no, I'm Dende. I'm . . . just a healer." 

He felt the tension that had been in the air lift at the information, and Dende wondered if that meant that he'd be safe here. 

"I'm Yamcha. And this is Krillin, Tenshinhan, Chiaotzu, Goku, Chichi, and Hercule." 

"Hercule's my dad," Videl said. 

Dende's eyes widened further. 

"Your dad!?" 

He looked the man with the afro up and down. He never would've guessed. They didn't look anything alike. 

Dende engaged with them for a while, filling Hercule in on who he was, how he knew Videl. There was this awkward silence among them with the fact that it was clear that everyone _knew_ what Gohan, Videl, and Pan were to the culture Piccolo had built around them and Dende, but no one was willing to say it out loud. Dende refrained from saying the word "slave" and merely said that he had lived in the same castle as Videl, spending a lot of time with her over the years. 

"And as a healer, I took care of everyone's injuries and illnesses. Especially Tenshi's...." 

Pan frowned deeply. 

"I wish I could find her...." 

"You keep mentioning that name, Pan.... Who is Tenshi?" Chichi asked, staying near Gohan but giving them her full attention. 

"She's . . . ." Pan started, but Dende put his hand on her shoulder, shaking his head. "But why not - ?" 

"My daughter," Gohan said, voice sounding stronger than he looked in that moment. 

He startled basically all of them with the suddenness of his statement, but it was not unwelcome.

Gohan pulled the blanket around his shoulders as he stood up. 

"Maybe she's not here. Maybe she's still alive...." he said. 

Pan and Videl frowned, but they refrained from speaking. Dende, however, was not afraid to voice what they were thinking. 

"Out of everyone who had the ability to survive that, she is not among them. With her blood unable to clot and her inability to breathe without her oxygen tank, she surely died in the - " 

Gohan glared at him, his eyes flashing dangerously. Dende tensed, but he didn't back down. 

"You know I'm right, Gohan. Even if she survived the attack on the city, she wouldn't survive without me or you or King Piccolo. Especially if her skin broke and started bleeding. She'd either bleed to death or run out of oxygen and suffo - " 

" _Shut up_! She's King Piccolo's daughter and is strong enough to survive that!" 

Dende was willing to just sigh and let Gohan be delusional, but then Gohan, in his grief-stricken rage, said something that made Dende snap. 

"She's not like _your_ children!" 

Videl and Pan almost didn't move fast enough. Dende dropped the jar, which rolled harmlessly towards Chichi's feet, and Dende lunged at Gohan, claws aiming for Gohan's eyes. Dende made hellish screams as Videl grabbed him and pulled him back. He fought against her, trying to get at Gohan. 

" _They were your children, too, you **filthy** \- !_ " 

" _Dende, please_ \- !" Videl begged. She was much stronger than Dende, but she hated it when Dende spat out words like that. From someone usually so kind and gentle, the hatred he could spew from his mouth cut deeper than anything Piccolo could throw at any of them. 

Gohan acted like he wasn't affected by Dende's attempted assault in the least, or by the name that Dende had been about to call him. It was entirely possible that Gohan had effectively become immune to the race-based insults. He wasn't . . . glad to have gotten the upper hand in the exchange, but he didn't look guilty or regretful. 

Chichi picked up the jar of souls, seeming to recognize them for what they were. She smiled sadly. 

"Here," she said, in an effort to calm Dende down. 

Dende took the jar back and held it close, tears pricking his eyes. He still glared at Gohan, and Gohan just crossed his arms. 

"You'll want to keep them out of sight. Sometimes the people from the front desk come by, and they'll take them away somewhere." 

Dende looked over at her, his eyes softening. 

"You know what they are?" 

Chichi nodded. 

"They took Goten away a long time ago." 

Dende took note, then slipped the jar into his robes. It rested against his side, the weight of the jar comforting. 

"There's one person who would be able to tell us where they are," Goku spoke up, arms crossed. 

Dende, Videl, Pan, and Gohan looked over at him. He had a serious expression on his face. To Dende, he looked so different from when Gohan had brought his severed head to Piccolo. He hadn't recognized him until just then. 

"You . . . really sure you want to find Piccolo?" Krillin asked, hesitant. 

Goku didn't say anything for a moment. 

"Fortuneteller Baba will be able to tell us where Tenshi is, and we can find her and make sure she's okay. If we run into Piccolo," Goku said, making eye contact with Gohan, "I will not be civil, but I'm willing to give our granddaughter a chance." 

Chichi nodded. 

"I dunno, Goku...." Tenshinhan said. 

"Then stay here," Goku said, already starting to go in a particular direction. "Baba likes hanging at this particular bar." 

Gohan said nothing in regards to what Goku had to say about Piccolo, but he wasn't going to pick a fight with a man who was going to help him find his daughter. And no one said Baba couldn't help him find Piccolo. He hated not knowing where he was, what he was doing, if he needed him for anything. 

As Goku took them to Baba (them being Gohan, Dende, Pan, Videl, Hercule, and Chichi), Gohan retreated into his headspace, remembering good memories he had of him and Piccolo. 

_"I have a confession to make, Gohan."_

_Gohan tilted his head up from where it was on Piccolo's chest. He lay under Piccolo's bed sheets, completely nude and feeling wet from Piccolo ejaculating inside of him just a few moments before._

_"Yes, Master?"_

_"It used to be that I didn't feel . . . any kind of sexual attraction. Not to Nail, despite having children with him. And especially not to those others I've fornicated with."_

_Gohan waited for Piccolo to finish talking before he spoke, not wanting to speak out of turn._

_"And even when we started, I felt no differently about you. But...."_

_Piccolo had an odd look on his face, as though he was struggling to articulate himself._

_"I have always valued you as an important part of why this kingdom works. Why I even have all of this. And I've always cared about you. But recently....."_

_Piccolo chewed at his bottom lip, and Gohan watched him as he did so._

_"Master?"_

_"Hm?"_

_"If I may ask . . . are you saying that you're sexually attracted to me, and only me?"_

_Piccolo thought about it for a moment._

_"Yes. I suppose that is what I'm saying. I'm . . . confused by the change, because I thought this sexuality thing was a constant...."_

_Gohan was basically not paying attention to any of that. He also didn't entirely understand what Piccolo was saying about having not felt any sexual attraction beforehand. He didn't get that Piccolo was admitting that he was definitely asexual beforehand, but might actually be demisexual and was growing a strong, romantic attachment to Gohan. Piccolo himself didn't even have the word "demisexual" in his vocabulary and didn't believe himself capable of falling in love. Piccolo didn't have the words, and Gohan wasn't listening too closely anyway._

_"You don't have to worry about all that, Master. It just means I'm doing my job right."_

_Gohan was grinning, and Piccolo could hear it in his voice. Piccolo laughed a little._

_"Do you like hearing that? That only the thought of you can truly pique my interest?"_

_Gohan blushed a light pink._

_"Yes, Master, I like hearing that very much."_

_Piccolo adjusted his arms around Gohan, pulling him closer._

_"What about you? And be honest. Don't just say something just because you think I want to hear it."_

_"Me? You mean, who turns me on?"_

_"Yeah."_

_Gohan blushed and hid his face in Piccolo's chest. Piccolo laughed a little._

_"You, of course."_

_"Naturally. And?" Because Piccolo already knew he wasn't the only one to get into Gohan's pants._

_Gohan hesitated, but he had been given a direct order to be honest._

_"Dende. Especially when he gets all authoritative."_

_"Dende? Authoritative? Are we talking about the same Dende?"_

_Gohan giggled, and Piccolo found himself smiling softly at hearing the sound._

_"Anyone else?" Piccolo asked, getting increasingly curious._

_"It's never happened, but I've fantasized about Nail occasionally. And that's about it."_

_"It sounds like you have a fetish, Gohan."_

_"Is that bad, Master?"_

_"Mmmm, nah. I benefit from it, after all."_

_Piccolo pinched Gohan's butt, and Gohan let out a little squeak._

Tenshi had already been born and had been getting increasingly closer to the double-digit ages at the time. While Piccolo did not lose any of his aggressiveness or his control over the kingdom, he had eased into being more relaxed and kind-hearted when he was with Gohan and especially with Tenshi. Having a baby together brought out the best in Piccolo, and it brought Gohan closer to him. It was all Gohan had ever wanted. 

Time was weird in Otherworld, so Gohan had no idea how long it took to find Baba. But Goku approached Baba. 

"Hey, Baba." 

"Goku! What a surprise! How can I help you?" 

"My son wants to know where her daughter is. We're not sure if she's still alive or here in Otherworld with us." 

"And Piccolo," Gohan added. Goku and Chichi made a face, and Dende, Videl, and Pan didn't look too thrilled about that either.

"Oh dear, that is a problem. Don't worry, my crystal ball will tell us exactly what we need to know. Now, who should I ask about first?" 

Before anyone else could answer, Gohan said, "Piccolo." 

"Gohan - " Videl tried to chastise, but Gohan ignored her. 

"Crystal ball, tell us where Piccolo is!" 

The crystal ball brought an image to its surface, and Piccolo and a much older Namekian came into focus. 

"Kami?!" Goku said. Dende, Videl, Pan, and Gohan were all thinking the same thing. Who was Kami?

Piccolo and Kami were talking to each other, standing on the ground of the Lookout. 

"Now that you've gathered the Dragon Balls, what do you expect to do with them? There are only so many things the Dragon can do, and all life on Earth has been destroyed. If you don't wish wisely, you'll just doom whoever you bring back to an exaggerated death." Kami said. 

"I know," Piccolo said, snarling. 

Kami looked at Piccolo seriously. 

"Well? Aren't you going to share your thoughts?" 

Piccolo didn't respond for a moment. 

"I'm going to wish Gohan back and then bring him here." 

The earth was no good anymore, and he didn't have the patience to wait a whole 'nother year for the Dragon Balls to bring back one of his loved ones. 

Gohan felt his heart warming, happy that Piccolo's first thought had been to bring him back to him. 

Kami, however, hated that idea. 

"And just what makes you think I'll let the two of you live on this Lookout?" 

"You'd really throw _Gohan_ out just because you don't like me?" 

"I will not take part in your manipulation and abuse of that child!" 

"He's - he _was_ thirty-seven years old. He's no child anymore." 

"Be that as it may, you have done nothing but brainwash and hurt him since the day you kidnapped him from his parents and you even forced him to _murder_ them. I will not take part in anything you have planned for him. So yes, I would throw you both out if neither of you will listen to reason." 

"So what do you expect me to do, old man!?" 

Piccolo was losing his patience. 

"My daughter's gone, Nail is most likely dead, Dende and Videl and Pan are dead, and my entire kingdom is extinct! There's nothing left of _anything_! That _monster_ killed and destroyed everything but you and Popo up here! I'm not even sure how _I_ survived!" 

"You forgot to mention your other two children." 

Piccolo snarled. 

"Like I'd _want_ those two brats to still be alive." 

Kami shook his head. 

"Their faults were because of you. You're the one who raised all your children in a culture of racism and superiority complex. It's only natural for the only two full-blooded Namekians their age to develop - " 

" _No it is not_ , and S'cargo and Mollusk are incredibly _gross_. I kicked them out for a reason, old man." 

"I know. I watched it from up here."

"And you're still taking their side." 

"I'm not in support of their actions, Piccolo. What they tried to do to your daughter was immoral, but they are a product of the environment _you_ created, and you do not get to take the blame off of yourself by saying they were just bad seeds!" 

"What blame is there to have when everything I was ever responsible for is _dead_! Everyone's dead, it's just you and me and Popo now! There's no one for you to watch over, no one for me to conquer or protect, we both failed _everyone_! _You_ failed the Earth! And I - !" 

His words caught in his throat. 

"I failed my daughter and my - I failed the only two people I ever truly cared about." 

Kami was silent as Piccolo's shoulders sagged with the painful reality of their situation. They were both quiet for a long moment. 

Gohan leaned closer in to the crystal ball. 

"Wish me back! C'mon! Earth can't be that bad off, we can make it work! You need me! Wish me back!" 

Videl held Gohan back from getting too close to the crystal ball. Goku and Chichi were frowning, both wishing that they had had any kind of success with helping Gohan recover from all those years with Piccolo. It may never happen, and neither wanted that to be true. 

Kami eventually spoke up. 

"We could wish your daughter back." 

"With her health issues? She'd run out of oxygen." 

"Mr. Popo and I would figure something out. But out of all the people you have interacted with in your life, you have been the kindest to her. She brings out the best in you, and I think that is worth bringing back into this world." 

Gohan could think of a million reasons why that was a bad idea. "No! Bring me back! You're right, she'd just get hurt! Bring me back!" 

"Gohan, that's enough," Goku said. 

"They can't hear you, anyway," Baba said. 

"All right. We'll wish for Tenshi back," Piccolo agreed. 

Gohan felt something inside break, and Videl put her hand on his shoulder as she noticed that he was starting to tear up. 

"But . . . but he needs me. . . ." 

Piccolo and Kami summoned the Eternal Dragon. Gohan's focus was divided, him mumbling under his breath. 

"I'm his favorite, he needs me....." 

The Dragon stared down at them and it took up quite a bit of the picture on the crystal ball. 

"State your wish." 

"We wish for you to bring Son Tenshi back to life and bring her here to the Lookout!" Kami said. 

Shenron's eyes glowed, then faded. 

"Son Tenshi is not dead." 

That broke Gohan out of the mood he had put himself in, and Videl, Pan, and Dende stared in disbelief. 

"She's not!?" they all said together, Piccolo included. 

"No, and I am unable to bring her here. She is in the domain of the Supreme Kai of Time, in the city known as TokiToki. It is a realm in Otherworld that deals with the functions of time and space. As a member of the Time Patrol, her presence there is of the utmost importance." Shenron said. 

"Wait, wait, slow down, Time Patrol? She's part of a Time Patrol? What's that?" 

"Before she had been destroyed by the Super Saiyan known as Broly that attacked your world, she had been wished to TokiToki by the Head of the Time Patrol to be an elite member of the Patrol. She now works for the Supreme Kai of Time." 

"That means she's personally assisting one of the gods! The god of time!" Kami explained, in awe. "That's an incredible honor for her to have achieved!" 

"This Time Patrol picked her out personally?" 

"Yes. They wished their Dragon for the strongest warrior in the universes. She was the answer to their wish." 

"Tenshi is the strongest warrior in the universe?" was a question everyone listening to Shenron voiced. 

Dende, Videl, Pan, Goku, Chichi, Gohan, Hercule, and Baba all looked at each other. 

"Tenshi? _Our_ Tenshi?" Dende said. 

"Holy shit," Pan said, mouth hanging open. 

"Then take me to her! Take me to my daughter!" Piccolo demanded. 

"Piccolo -!" Kami protested, but it was too late. 

"I cannot take you to her directly, but I can transport you to Otherworld, but it will kill you. Do you still want to go?" 

"There's nothing for me here! Take me there!" 

"As you wish." 

The wish was granted. 

Gohan started to get excited. 

"That means he's at the check-out desk! We can find Piccolo there! Then find Tenshi together!" 

Gohan was already standing up and starting to hurry in that direction. 

"Gohan, wait!" Videl said, hurrying after him. 

"Dad! Mom!" Pan followed after, Hercule close behind her. 

"I owe you, Baba," Goku said. "I'll pay you back later!" 

Then off Goku and Chichi went. 

"Thank you, ma'am!" Dende said, hurrying after them, but wishing they didn't run so fast. It unfortunately was his lot in life, since he was not as physically fit as any of them. He managed to catch up to Hercule, but that was because Hercule wasn't as fit as the others and was falling behind. At least they were behind together.


	19. The Fusion Technique

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Content warning: References to incest.

Since taking on the Androids and Cell alongside Trunks's younger self, Tenshi had been in a brighter mood. Trunks was acting a little weird - blushing all the time (more than usual) and stammering a lot when she got too close - but she didn't notice it too much. No, instead, she was much more focused with training and having fun in TokiToki. 

Tucked away in TokiToki was a game arcade. It was hidden inside on of the buildings in the general shopping area. Tenshi had never played any of these arcade game machines, be it a pinball machine or a video game or some other game, but she soon discovered it was a lot of fun and could give her prizes if she earned enough tickets. 

It was basically the only other form of entertainment in TokiToki they had without leaving the TokiToki area. She wasn't bored of it just yet, so that wasn't a problem. 

"Yes!" she shouted, punching the air as she beat the high score on one of the pixelated video game machines. 

She typed in her name, then realized the previous high score had been kept by Harry. She smirked. Something to gloat about later~! 

She turned around, about to leave the machine to go to another one, but Harry was already standing there. 

The human looked surprised, his red hair falling slightly over his eyes. 

"Wow, I've had the high score on that forever." 

Tenshi's smirk widened. 

"Wanna see if you can do better?" 

Harry smiled in return, but it was reserved. 

Tenshi found everyone's interactions with her were rather reserved. Strictly polite. Except for Trunks's. Trunks acted like a real person around her. 

"I don't have time for a real-time competition, but definitely keep an eye on the score rankings in the future." 

Tenshi lifted her hand for a high-five. 

"Sounds like a plan." 

Harry stared at her hand, and it hung awkwardly in the air without him doing anything. 

"What're you doing?" 

". . . High-five?" 

"Oh. Uh, sure." 

It was a very half-hearted high-five, and Tenshi pouted. 

Well, screw you too, she thought. 

She then left the arcade and wandered toward the library. There was research she wanted to do on something anyway.... 

When she was finished with her research, she ran with the book she had checked out from the library towards where she felt Trunks's ki signal. He was talking rather seriously with Supreme Kai of Time and someone else. He looked kind of like Supreme Kai of Time, but Tenshi didn't concern herself with that. 

Trunks looked up when he heard her hurried footsteps. 

"Tenshi! Let me introduce you. Elder Kai, this is Son Tenshi, queen and heir to the throne of Earth in her timeline. Tenshi, this is the Elder Kai. He is the oldest and most powerful of all the kais." 

Elder Kai looked Tenshi up and down and had an odd expression on his face. 

" _This_ Namekian is the Tenshi I've heard so much about?" Elder Kai said. 

"You've heard about me?" Tenshi asked. 

"Yes, when we Kais had that trial about what to do with you. Congratulations on passing the test, by the way...." 

"Thanks." 

Trunks nudged her a little, but she refused to make her tone more formal. Formality was a sign of weakness, Piccolo had taught her. 

Elder Kai was still looking at her strangely. 

"Is something the matter?" 

"Well, it's just that Supreme Kai of Time kept saying you were a girl. But you're a Namekian, and they are all male." 

Tenshi narrowed her eyes, and Trunks and Supreme Kai of Time tensed up. 

"Uh, Elder Kai," Supreme Kai of Time tried to intervene, but Tenshi interrupted her. 

"And I never thought the most powerful being in the universe would be stupid enough to believe in the gender binary, but apparently you learn something every day, huh, old man?" 

"O-kay!" Trunks exclaimed, hopping in between Elder Kai and Tenshi. "Tenshi and I have Time Patrol business to get to, so we better get going! It was a pleasure to see you again, Elder Kai, goodbye!" 

Trunks then hurried her away, and Supreme Kai of Time smacked her forehead. 

"What am I going to do with that girl?" she asked. 

"No, really, that's a Namekian, why are we calling it a girl?" Elder Kai said. 

Trunks continued to push Tenshi away until the two Kais were out of earshot. 

"Okay, that's enough," Tenshi said, digging her heels into the dirt. 

Trunks stopped pushing her, then sighed heavily. 

"You really shouldn't talk to him that way." 

"He was _being_ an _asshole_ ," Tenshi said, as though that absolved her entirely. 

Trunks sighed again. 

"We'll . . . talk about that later. You had seemed to be in a hurry. Is something the matter?" 

"No, I just wanted to show you this." 

She handed Trunks the book, and he opened it to the page she indicated and read what she wanted him to read. 

"It says that the fusion technique is often used to make up for an individual's shortcomings! So if you have really bad eyesight and fuse with someone who has bad hearing, you benefit each other by giving your fusion good eyesight and ears that can hear. It's not as good hearing as the one who can hear has by themselves, and the eyes aren't as good as they were for the person who had good eyesight, but it's really useful in tight situations." 

Trunks's eyes widened. 

"So what you're saying is - " 

"If I learn how to fuse, then when we have emergencies, a fusion will solve my breathing and clotting problems!" 

"Tenshi, that's a great idea! And the Metamorans live here in Otherworld! All we have to do is find them! And get permission from Supreme Kai of Time of course." 

Tenshi nodded. 

"But who should fuse with you?" Trunks asked. 

"Isn't that obvious? You, duh!" 

"M-me?" 

He did that blushing thing again. 

"You're my best friend. Who else would I fuse with?" 

Part of his brain wanted to say he was her only friend. Only living one. But that made him feel so warm inside, and his face was turning red, and he fought the urge to duck his head in embarrassment. 

He wondered how hard he had fallen for her. Was this normal? Was this how crushes went, or was this something more? He had almost no comparison for it, outside of his crush on Gohan.... 

He wanted to spend every moment with her. She was who he thought about in the back of his mind when not actively thinking about something else. He worried about her and wanted to help her and be with her and feel her arms around him.... 

The idea of being fused with her was almost too much for him to handle. 

"I - I dunno, I - I dunno," he stammered out, rubbing the back of his neck. 

She laughed. 

"You're cute." 

She took his hand and pulled him along. 

"So what're we waiting for? Let's find the planet!" 

"W-wait, we need permission first!" 

Tenshi groaned and turned her head towards him. 

"How come?" 

"Well, what if something happens while we're gone? They'll have to be prepared." 

"Then just tell someone before we leave and just get a move on. Why do we need _permission_? You do have plans already in place for when you're not here, don't you?" 

"Y-yes, we do, but we have to alert Supreme Kai of Time fir - " 

" _Please_ , Trunks? We'll learn the technique and be back in no time! Towa and Mira will be taking their time after that. Remember that big long pause they took between Frieza and Cell?" 

"Y-yes, but - " 

But Trunks saw the look she was giving her. Pleading with him with those eyes, and he felt his heart skipping beats. 

Her palm was soft, even if the tops of her hands were not, and he didn't want her to let go. 

"W-well.... Okay." 

She grinned at him, her eyes sparkling with glee, and he felt his heart melting, despite the feeling of impending doom falling over him. 

They ran into Harry as they headed for where Supreme Kai of Time kept her cars. 

"Hey Harry, Tenshi and I are heading out of TokiToki for a while. We'll be back as soon as we can. You know what to do if there's an emergency while I'm gone, right?" 

Harry nodded. 

"Yes, sir. I'll have it covered. Good luck." 

Trunks smiled at him and gave him a wave as he walked away. Tenshi was still holding Trunks's other hand, and Harry saw it. Harry's shoulders sagged. 

Tenshi and Trunks reached the Volkswagon they had driven last time, and Trunks activated the GPS system in the car. 

"Take us to the Metamoran planet," Trunks said. 

"Calculating," it said in response. 

"Whoa, it can talk to you!?" Tenshi said, leaning forward to look at the dashboard. 

Trunks smiled and explained some about what a GPS was and how AIs worked as he drove.

Locating the planet wasn't too difficult, but it took what felt like hours to get there. (Maybe it was hours. Time felt weird in TokiToki, and it felt weird in the general Otherworld area too.) Then they found it, hovering above their stretch of Snake Way. Trunks put the car into park, then stood up on the car seat. 

"I guess we have to fly up there to get there. Though I'm not sure about leaving the car here...." 

"It'll be fine. What could happen?" Tenshi asked, already going ahead and flying up to the planet. 

"H-hey, wait!" 

Trunks flew up after her. Soon, the planet's gravity started to pull them in, though both of them noticed that they'd be able to leave it easily with enough of a burst of ki. 

The planet was weird-looking, with an orange sky and purple grass. The Metamorans were walking around everywhere, and Tenshi and Trunks started to wonder how they would find out who would be able to teach them the fusion technique. 

However, they soon realized that while the Metamorans did not have the same kind of technology that TokiToki was set up with, they still had plenty of signs that pointed in the direction of the martial arts masters on the planet. Apparently many warriors came to the planet to learn the fusion technique. 

"What's . . . that?" Trunks asked as they walked in the direction of the dojo they were pretty sure they were interested in. 

"What's what?" Tenshi asked, stopping and turning around. She then laughed. "That's a hookah bar, silly. For smoking."

"O-oh. Okay." 

"And . . . over there is a drugs store. Oooh, and a bar! And . . . a lot of these vendors are selling cigs and needles and - " 

Tenshi started coughing as a cloud of smoke moved into her face. She hunched over, and Trunks hurried over to help her breath. 

"Hol- _hack caugh haaaack_ y shi - huuuaagh _ugh huuuh_!" 

"Keep your head low, there's much less smoke down here," Trunks said, worried for her. 

"H-help me get the face mask - !" she managed to get out before coughing more. 

He helped her immediately, then she took in a deep breath of fresh oxygen. 

"I'm gonna fucking kill these little purple shits!" Tenshi said, but instead of actually lashing out at anyone, she just stormed in the direction of their first destination. 

They reached the dojo, and Tenshi banged on the front door. The doors opened up, and she and Trunks took a few steps inside. 

A Metamoran in a gi walked over to them, then spoke a language Tenshi didn't understand in the slightest. But then Trunks answered in that language, surprising her a bit, and the Metamoran and he carried a conversation. 

The Metamoran then nodded and ushered for them to follow him. 

Once they were deeper into the dojo, the Metamoran spoke Tenshi's language. 

"Anything for the Supreme Kai of Time and her Time Patrol division. So did you have a specific fusion technique in mind?" 

"Well, mostly we were interested in a technique that would best help Tenshi in battle. She has more potential power than anyone in the entire universe, but she can't access it. She also cannot clot or breathe well on her own. So we were thinking that a fusion technique would help her release that power." 

The Metamoran nodded. 

"I understand. In that case, I believe I know the technique that will best suit your needs." 

And that was when the training began. It was surprisingly difficult at first. They had to compensate for the big height difference between Trunks and Tenshi when their fingers had to meet. Even the slightest thing wrong with the fusion dance would ruin the entire fusion. 

They successfully fused at one point, but the result was not a success. They were skin and bones and they _couldn't breathe at all_. They honestly couldn't have defused fast enough. 

Tenshi had to lay on the floor, not moving, and just focusing on getting air back into her lungs for a good hour and a half after the experience. The Metamoran was understanding, and as she listened to Trunks and him talking she learned that his name was Yoon-yun. 

When she was able to stand back up and insist that she could continue with the training, she and Trunks started again. 

Tenshi wasn't sure how long they had been practicing, but eventually they managed it. 

"Fu - sion - HA!" 

Their stance was perfect, and their fingers touched, and both Tenshi and Trunks gasped a bit as they felt the sudden tugging towards the middle as they fused. 

A whirl of thoughts and memories of theirs mushed together, and it took them a while to get their thoughts all in order. 

Yoon-yun spoke to them as they worked on it. 

"What is your name, fusion warrior?" 

"Trunshi," they responded without hesitation. Trunks was examining a handful of memories of Tenshi's, while Tenshi was treated to some of Trunks's. 

"How does it feel? Did you have your mental walls up properly before fusion?" 

"That might explain a few things," Trunshi said. 

The proper mental walls were set up to keep certain things a secret before it could spill over, but there were some things that were impossible to take back. 

"It feels new," Trunshi answered. "Not . . . unpleasant. It will take some getting used to." 

Yoon-yun nodded. 

"But now you have learned it. This is the most I will be able to teach you. Feel free to return for guidance on developing an individualized fusion dance, if that is something you believe would help you on your training. I look forward to hearing back from the two of you." 

Trunshi nodded and bowed, then left the dojo. 

They reached the car after flying up where they had landed, then they defused and Tenshi fell into the passenger side of the car. 

"Uuugh.... I might actually sleep after that. Phew...." 

"Are you all right?" Trunks asked. 

"Yeah, yeah.... I just get really tired sometimes...." 

Trunks opened his mouth to say something else, but then he realized she had actually already fallen asleep. 

He closed his mouth, then worked on getting them back to TokiToki. 

The drive back was very quiet, so Trunks was left with his thoughts. 

There were . . . quite a few memories of Tenshi's rolling around in his brain. 

_"Hey, Pan? Would you want to be with me like how Daddy and Father are together?"_

_"Ewwwww, no! We're sisters, that's gross!"_

_"Huh? It is? But S'cargo and Mollusk are brothers, and they're always makin' out."_

_"Maybe that's 'cause no one else likes them."_

_"Pffffft ha ha ha ha ha! Don't let anyone hear you say that, but ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!"_

The memory seemed to be telling Trunks that Tenshi and Pan had been nine and ten, respectively, and it was . . . both disturbing and curious that Tenshi's older brothers apparently were . . . _those_ kind of people. It had been a little alarming that Tenshi had had a crush on her half-sister, but the memories he did have played out like that had been the end of it. And he wasn't going to be freaked out over something that had happened so long ago and nothing bad had happened as a result of it. 

He had very vague memories of hers of an amusement park, but she had put up the mental wall before he had figured out what was happening. He could see a ferris wheel and merry-go-round in his mind's eye, but there was an underlying feeling of panic in the memory. Fear. Guilt. Something had happened there, but he had no idea what it was. Pan had been there, though. 

He also had a memory of Tenshi taking Pan to the brothel, and he blushed just thinking about it. 

_"Hey! S'up, my little sex monkeys! Now, now, I know you love me, but I ain't here for me today~!"_

_"Your Highness, please!" Pan protested._

_"You just pick whoever you want, and I'll handle the rest, okay?"_

_Finger snapping, and some men stepped up, showing interest._

_"I - I have something to tell you," Pan stammered._

_"Hm? What is it?"_

_"I - I'm only interested in . . . wo- I mean, people with vaginas."_

_"Oh! That's fine. Sorry, guys, but hey, if you're really interested, I wouldn't mind taking a ride anyway, but only after Pan gets hooked up, 'kay?"_

_"Oh dear...."_

_"Awwwww, you're blushing!"_

_"'Cause you're embarrassing."_

_"All in a day's work."_

They got back to TokiToki, and Trunks parked the car. 

"THERE YOU ARE!" Supreme Kai of Time yelled. 

Trunks jumped out of his skin and jumped out of the car, standing at attention. 

"AND YOU TOOK MY CAR WITHOUT PERMISSION, WHAT THE HELL!?" 

"I - I'm sorry! I can explain!" 

"YOU BETTER BE ABLE TO EXPLA- hey, is she okay?" 

Trunks looked over at Tenshi, then back to Supreme Kai of Time. 

"She - she had uncovered a new martial art discipline, and she insisted we check out the planet it originated from. We've - we've been training on location. I - I know it was wrong to take the car and leaving TokiToki without permission. This is entirely my fault, none of it is hers! I should have insisted on following protocol! I'm really sorry!" 

Trunks bowed to Supreme Kai of Time and waited for her response. 

She sighed. 

"But she's okay, right?" 

"Yes. Just tired. It was an exhausting training session. It took a lot out of her." 

"It really must have, considering Namekians don't ordinarily sleep. I got rather scared there. After all those meetings and talks with the other Kais, and I thought she had gone and died.... I'm glad she's okay." 

Trunks nodded, agreeing that it was good that she was okay. 

"Take her somewhere we she can at least rest comfortably, then meet me in my office. That'll give me time to decide what your punishment is." 

"Yes, Supreme Kai of Time." 

Trunks then gathered Tenshi into his arms and carried her to her apartment. He used one of his capsules to give her a bed she could rest on, then went to meet Supreme Kai of Time. 

Meanwhile, Tenshi slept, Trunks's memories seeping into her dreams. 

_It was Daddy, but not Daddy. He had a scar over his eye that her Daddy didn't have, and she had never seen Daddy wear that orange gi and blue undershirt before. They were training, and the haze in Trunks's thoughts were recognizable to her. They were unfocused, and she could feel the blush that was on Trunks's cheeks. His focus was simultaneously on the martial art moves and on how Daddy's muscles looked in that shirt._

_Trunks had the biggest crush on his timeline's version of her daddy._

When she woke up, she made a rather disgusted sound. 

"Now I know how Pan felt, ewwwwwww," she grumbled as she sat up and rubbed the top of her head. 

She looked around and recognized her surroundings as her apartment room. How'd she get here . . . ? 

She heard a knock at the door, and she drug herself over to the door to answer it. 

It was Harry at the door. 

"I, uh, heard you groaning. Are you okay?" 

She coughed a bit before answering. "Yeah, I'm okay. Know what Trunks is doing right now?" 

Harry gave her a funny smile. 

"You two didn't actually get permission to leave TokiToki. He's doing his punishment from Supreme Kai of Time right now." 

"Whaaa? What punishment? What kind of bullshit is that?" 

Harry laughed a little, then shook his head. 

"If you go into the shopping area, you'll find out." 

Tenshi frowned and gave Harry a look, but Harry ignored it and went into his own apartment. 

But going into the shopping area in TokiToki is exactly what she did after she drank an entire carton full of chicken broth. She found Trunks scrubbing the ground and statues and buildings with a scrub brush on his hands and knees along with the cleaning robots. She furrowed her eyebrows, frowning. 

"The fuck kind of punishment is that? Isn't that what the _robots_ are for?" she asked. 

Trunks paused and looked up at her. Tenshi pointedly did not look at his butt even though it would've been easy to do from that angle. 

"Well, apparently one of them needs repairs, so instead of just fixing it and having it to it, Supreme Kai of Time says I have to do this before fixing it.... It's no big deal, though." 

"You're _Head of the Time Patrol_ and scrubbing the fucking street. On your hands and knees. That's fucking slave work, get the fuck up." 

Her voice boomed across the shopping area, even though she wasn't actually yelling or shouting. It made passers-by stop and stare, and Trunks felt like he had to stand up, even if he wasn't sure what he should do in this situation. 

"I - I broke a rule and - " 

"And nothing. Where is she?" 

"S-Supreme Kai of Time is near the Time Vault." 

"I'm having a talk with her. You don't scrub another damn thing. I'll be back." 

Trunks just stood there, watching her leave, not knowing what to do. On the one hand, he had to accept punishment for breaking the rules. On the other hand, if she lost respect for him because it reminded her of what the slaves in her timeline did . . . . 

"Shit," Trunks spat out under his breath, biting his lower lip. 

Memories of Tenshi hanging around her older brothers and being intentionally mean to those weaker and of lower social status than them flashed into the forefront of his mind. _Tenshi laughing and giggling along with S'cargo as Mollusk kicked a slave in the stomach repeatedly, the slave laying on the ground, not fighting back. Trunks couldn't tell if it was because he couldn't or chose not to in case there were heavier consequences if he did. "Stupid monkey!"_ Tenshi's insult rang in his ears, and he felt his body start to shake. 

Tenshi stormed over to the Time Vault. Indeed, she found Supreme Kai of Time there. She was sitting there contemplatively, and Tenshi walked right up to her. Her shadow fell over Supreme Kai of Time, and she looked up to see a rather pissed off Tenshi. Tenshi's mouth was twisted into a snarl, and her glare was unpleasant. 

"Can I _help_ you?" Supreme Kai of Time asked. 

"The fuck's up with you!? Scrubbing the streets of TokiToki on his hands and knees for punishment!? That's slave work and you know it! That's why you have the damn robots do it, isn't it? He's your head of the whole damn department!" 

Supreme Kai of Time sighed. 

"You wouldn't understand. Sometimes mortals need to be taken down a peg. And he's a Saiyan, he can do it in no time, even faster than the robots. He'll be fine. Though, honestly, it's more because I couldn't think of anything else for him to do. And I'd have to give him something as punishment. He's just got one of those guilty personalities, y'know? Has to feel like he's repaid his debts and stuff like that." 

"There has to be _something_ else he can do to 'pay you back' or whatever. The task you gave him his degrading!" 

"Or maybe you're just reading too much into it, oh powerful 'Demon Queen.'" The sarcasm was heavy with Tenshi's title, and that pissed her off even more than what she was making Trunks do. "It's _just_ an unpleasant task. You're the one putting a caste system on it. Literally no one else in TokiToki would ever even think of it that way. It's all you." 

A part of Tenshi was starting to feel self-conscious and embarrassed, but she didn't want to back down. 

"Give him a different one," she demanded. 

Supreme Kai of Time scoffed. 

"Who do you think you are to order _me_ around like that? I control whether or not you get sent back to your timeline to die or not, and you're trying to boss _me_ around? I am in charge here, not you. And Trunks will pretty much do anything I ask of him. He owes it to me for starting this mess with the timelines. Though I may have exaggerated a few things." 

Tenshi raised a brow. "Exaggerated?" 

"Yeah, I might've said something about it being a mortal sin to go back in time to fix things, but if I had really thought that, I could've just had the new timeline he created destroyed." 

"Wait, _what_?" 

"It's no big deal. None of it's a big deal. You just gotta back off and let me handle this whole time-and-space thing and just do what I tell you to do, okay?" 

"You _lied to him_!? You've - you've been using his guilt over the unraveling the timelines to get him to work for you!?" 

"I mean, it was a bad thing he did, but since no one thought anyone could do it, there weren't any rules, so he technically didn't break any rules. It was still bad, though. It led to there being a _need_ for TokiToki in the first place. All's well that ends well, though." 

"The fuck are you talking about!?" 

Trunks goes on and on about how toxic her father was and how bad her timeline is, but this bitch they call God of Time lies to his face and guilt-trips him into working for her like a dog? Like a - a - ? 

_At thirteen-years-old, Tenshi intentionally kicked a slave she didn't know the name of down just because he had crossed her path. She then walked on top of him and continued down the hall. Pan said nothing, but kept her head down and gave the slave a fleeting pitying look. Tenshi herself was blabbing about something the Tenshi of today couldn't remember._

She felt her face flush, and the anger bubbled up in her stomach. No, she refused to think of him that way. He was more than that, he was better than that. He was so much more important than that. 

He was her friend. 

"I guess if you insist he get a different task, though, my house could use some cleaning up itself. The last robot he gave me to clean up with fizzled out, and I haven't had time to tell him about it yet...." 

"He's not your goddamn maid!" 

Supreme Kai of Time just looked at her like she was annoying. 

"Will you just go away? I know he said it was all his fault, but you're basically the reason he's in trouble in the first place, y'know." 

"Fuck you!" 

Tenshi then stormed off. Supreme Kai of Time just shook her head. What was she going to do with that girl? 

Tenshi returned to the shopping area of TokiToki to find Trunks was still standing in the spot that she had left him, his frame shaking a little and his expression showing he was torn on what he should do. 

Her shoulders sagged. What should she say? 

It was then that their scouters both beeped. Towa and Mira had struck again. Tenshi cursed aloud, and they both ran back to the Time Vault.


	20. Majin Buu

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-B5gAczFJps is the song that Tenshi was singing. It's a well-known Chinese song. Gohan remembers it from the few times he listened to Chichi sing it when he was a baby/toddler and the short time he had spent with them before he killed her and Goku.

Tenshi and Trunks peered into the scroll that had had its events altered. Son Goku was facing up against a big, fat, pink monster. Goku took on a form known as Super Saiyan 3. The monster suddenly multiplied into three monsters. 

"Majin Buu!" Trunks said. 

"The hell is he?" Tenshi asked. 

"He's a very powerful monster controlled by the demon realm! He's kind of . . . a genie? I don't really know. I just know that he's really powerful and the strongest enemy Goku has ever faced. We have to take the other two out! But in all honestly, neither of us are enough to take on even one Majin Buu, let alone two." 

"On our own, you mean," Tenshi said, smirking at him. 

Trunks smiled back. 

"Right. So we should fuse now before we head on in." 

"Right!" 

They positioned themselves as necessary, then moved their bodies in accordance with their chanting and their training. 

"FU-SION-HA!"

Once they took on the form of Trunshi once more, they grabbed the scroll and teleported into the timeline. 

Feeling the new and not-felt-before ki signal in the Time Vault, Supreme Kai of Time rushed to the Time Vault, along with a few other Time Patrollers, but when they arrived, there was no one there. 

Trunshi appeared in the timeline just in time to kick Majin Buu right in the chin as he flew at Goku while the other two Majin Buus incapacitated Goku. (Honestly, the whole scenario kind of reeked of a bad porno, though Trunks's thoughts rolled in Trunshi's head, assuring Tenshi's consciousness that Majin Buu would never have conceived of an idea like that. 

Goku then took care of the other two Majin Buus holding him back, then together they took on all three of them. 

Trunks's consciousness alerted Tenshi's consciousness that the Super Saiyan 3 form wouldn't last, so they had to work fast. 

"I don't know who you are, but thanks for the help!" Goku said as he fought alongside them. 

Trunshi smirked, feeling a sense of pride, then took out one of the three, then flew over to focus on the other two. 

It was only then that they realized that the defeated Majin Buus then exploded into tiny Majin Buus. There were too many of them, and Tenshi communicated with Trunks to see if it'd be more worthwhile to defuse, due to the volume there were and how less powerful the tiny Buus were. Trunks agreed, and the two split. 

Goku was momentarily distracted by their defusion, then he recognized Trunks. 

"Trunks from the future!?" Goku said, then ended up receiving a punch to the face. 

Trunks didn't have time to respond to Goku, and it was then that Tenshi and Trunks felt Mira's presence. 

"Shit!" Tenshi said, blasting a few Majin Buus in the face, then darted to cut Mira off. 

Mira was not happy to be interrupted or to have anyone in his way, but Tenshi did not stop to exchange small talk. 

Mira was tough. Strong. But she was stronger. She knew she was. It was just a matter of concentration and avoiding injuries. 

Mira tended to take more damage with physical attacks as opposed to ki blasts, but if the ki blast was strong enough, it actually would do the most damage. It was just a matter of catching Mira off-guard. So when Mira attacked her with a giant ki blast and had missed, Tenshi took her opportunity. 

"SPECIAL BEAM CANNON!" 

Mira's screams were all that was left of him. The beam cannon took him out, but Tenshi didn't stop to congratulate herself. She flew back to help Trunks and Goku. Goku's Super Saiyan 3 had cut out. They needed her help now more than ever. 

Tenshi focused on fighting as Trunks started to reason with Majin Buu. 

"If you wait just an hour, an even stronger warrior will appear to fight you! Even stronger than you!" 

"What? No one's stronger than Buu!" 

"Y-yes they are! We can prove it, but you have to wait one hour!" 

Tenshi didn't know how many of these little Buus there were, but she was starting to lose her steam. It was getting harder to breathe. 

"Okay! I'll wait then. But you two are really strong, so I'll play with you while I wait!" 

"Huh!?" 

"Fuck...!" Tenshi said. But the tiny Buus disappeared, and the time scroll helped Trunks and Tenshi escape. 

Tenshi collapsed onto the ground, out of breath. She switched out to her face mask and took several deep breaths. 

"Phew! That was a close one. I can't believe you took out Mira! Great job! Now maybe we won't have to deal with Towa altering the timeline anymore!" Trunks said. 

Then he tilted his head, looking at Tenshi's hand. 

"What's up with your hand?" 

Tenshi looked at her hand and just then noticed that it was glowing. 

"I . . . don't . . . know. . . ." Tenshi said, still out of breath. She'd need a serious break before she could move or fight again. 

"Out of the Time Vault! Now!" Supreme Kai of Time shouted, running over to them. 

Tenshi tried to push herself up, but she really couldn't move her body. 

Trunks pulled her up, and Supreme Kai of Time held out her hands, creating a magic barrier around Tenshi's hand.

They drug her outside of the Time Vault, and Supreme Kai of Time threw the magic barrier ball into the air, taking the thing glowing around Tenshi's hand up with it. 

It then exploded in the air. Tenshi stared up at it, mouth falling open. 

"What the shit - !?" 

"You didn't know that was there?" Supreme Kai of Time asked. 

"No, of course not - ! What, you thought I'd try to blow up the Time Vault!?" 

"I was just asking!" 

"And here I thought I would try to finish you painlessly," said a familiar voice. "But you just wouldn't accept the offer."

Tenshi, Supreme Kai of Time, and Trunks looked up to find the man who had helped Tenshi reach the time change when she was helping Trunks. 

Supreme Kai of Time gasped. 

"Demon God Demigra! How did you get out of the crack of time?" 

Trunks wasted no time in unsheathing his sword and attacking Demigra. But it turned out he was just an illusion - Trunks's sword went right through, doing nothing to Demigra. 

"The fuck - !? The fuck is his deal!?" 

Tenshi was pissed. That bastard _used_ her to try to destroy the Time Vault - no, TokiToki! Trunks could've been really hurt in that! 

"He must've wanted to get rid of Towa and Mira - and used us as a way to do that and made sure we would also get taken out! Playing dirty, as usual!" Supreme Kai of Time said, frowning deeply. 

Demigra came closer to them, smirking strongly. 

"Give TokiToki to me. You know I'm worthy." 

"Never!" 

Tenshi forced herself to get back to her feet. It was difficult, and even Demigra could see that her body was shaking from the exertion. 

"You fucking fucker used me!" 

"That I did. But don't worry. We'll meet again." 

Demigra then vanished, and Tenshi fell to her knees, unable to keep herself standing. 

"Dammit!" she spat out. 

Trunks hurried to her side and helped her get out of the dirt. 

Supreme Kai of Time sighed. 

"Get her to the infirmary. Demigra will no doubt strike again very soon." 

Trunks nodded and did just that, carrying Tenshi to the infirmary. 

Tenshi remembered how Demigra had touched her hand and teleported her to where Trunks needed her help. She remembered Supreme Kai of Time admitting to her that she had lied to Trunks. 

These over-powered supernatural bullshitters were using them both, and it was pissing her off. 

But she held her tongue for now. She was too tired to start a fight. 

Trunks put his hand against her forehead and caressed it absently as he watched the healer work, asking how bad it was and when Tenshi would be back to normal. 

"She just needs rest, mostly," the healer assured him. 

The feeling of his hand on her head felt nice. It reminded her of Daddy and how he used to sing to her before he would go to bed. 

She closed her eyes and started to sing under her breath. She pretended, for a moment, that it was her daddy's hand on her head. 

"You ask me how deep I love you, how much my love is. My love is real, the moon represents my heart. You ask me how deep I love you, how much my love is.... My feeling does not waver, my love does not change. The moon represents my heart.... A gentle kiss, is enough to move my heart. A deep feeling, has caused me to think of you 'til now. You -" 

"Um," Trunks interrupted, and she opened her eyes. 

He was blushing furiously. 

"Why are you singing that?" 

She smiled at him. 

"It was something my dad used to sing.... I'm not sure where he heard it." 

"O-oh. Okay." 

"Why'd you think I was singing it?" 

"W-w-well! I, uh, didn't think anything about it, I just - I was just worried! I mean, you start singing out of no where, and we're in the infirmary, and for all I know, you hit your head and - !" 

"Why're you so flustered over it, though, huh?" 

She gave him a sultry look. 

"Does the thought of me and love in the same concept make you nervous?" 

Trunks stammered, which basically answered her question for him, and he knew it. 

He hung his head and avoided looking at her. 

"Y-yes." 

"Is there a particular reason?" 

"I . . ." 

He lifted his head, but stared at the wall. The healer pretended she wasn't there. But she was certainly listening. 

He knew her flaws. She had once been a bully. Cruel. Laughed at other people's pain. She owned a human, her half-sister, as her personal property. She had grown up in a world where people like him were less-than and earned beatings and punishments by doing very little and sometimes nothing at all. She could be very rude. 

But he knew her good parts. Her courage. Her determination. Her confidence. Her ability to change. The goodness that was inside of her that _allowed_ her to change and become a better person. 

But was he ready to be honest with her? 

Tenshi sat up, already feeling much better, even if she was tired and in need of meditation. 

"I've never really, truly been in love before. I don't know what that's like. But I know what it looks like on other people. You hide it when we fuse, but you're bad at keeping it off your face." 

Trunks blushed and turned his head to look at her. She was smiling at him. 

"Is that it, then? Do you love the big, bad, demon queen?" 

"You're not a demon," Trunks said, and somehow she knew it wasn't just about her being a Namekian. 

It was about her not being evil. About her not being all that bad. 

"Perhaps, but I can still corrupt," Tenshi said. 

"And I can encourage you to be good," Trunks countered. 

"And there may be some things where you'd _want_ to be corrupted in." 

Trunks clued in to what she meant and blushed. 

"I - I wouldn't say . . . _all_ sex can be categorized as bad, though...." 

There were things that would always be bad and evil, like pedophilia and rape and coerced sex, but consensual sex between two people capable of consent was good. He was a virgin, not unreasonable. 

Tenshi was leaning it, and Trunks didn't quite know what it meant in terms of their friendship or partnership or relationship, but he did know it meant she was about to kiss him. His heart was beating rapidly. He had never done this before - 

And their scouters beeped. 

"Are you serious!?" Tenshi exclaimed, swinging her legs off of the infirmary bed. "Couldn't Demigra chill out for _two more minutes_?!" 

The two hurried back to the Time Vault. 

The healer stood there, not quite sure what to make about what she had overheard and almost witnessed. 

Harry popped his head in and asked if she needed any help with machinery, since he was doing his rounds and seeing what needed tune-ups. 

"No. Everything's fine," she said, despite knowing that Harry had a big crush on Trunks. 

It wasn't her place.


	21. Chapter 21

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I got Xenoverse 2 finally! And it rejuvenated my desire to work on this fic. (I got super sidetracked by Ace Attorney and Gravity Falls, I'm sorry.) This chapter probably won't be all that interesting because there's story stuff from Xenoverse I have to sift through before I can go back to interesting character stuff/original plot stuff. Which once that happens, updates will probably be more frequent.

When they popped into the altered point in the timeline, Tenshi hesitated a moment as she witnessed Demigra using his magic to brainwash and control Piccolo. Could she fight her own father? 

But . . . this was a different Piccolo. She didn't exist in this world. (She wasn't supposed to exist.) And she had to defend not just Earth, but time and space. 

She didn't have a choice in the matter. 

This was one of two changes in the timeline. Piccolo getting brainwashed. And something to do with that Majinn Buu character and her Daddy. Gohan. Not her daddy, this was a different Gohan. 

She was honestly glad she didn't have to speak or talk to anyone on these missions. 

At first, she just tried to fight Demigra, but again, he was just a hologram. She wasn't really hurting him, no matter how much she wanted to. So she had to focus on Piccolo instead. 

"I'll meet you over at the other time anomaly," Trunks said. "I'm not allowed to interact with my younger self."

"Understood," Tenshi said into the intercom on her scouter. 

Fighting Piccolo was difficult. He was just as strong as she had imagined he'd be, and she was trying so hard not to hurt him too badly. But there was only so much leniency she was going to be able to hold while also protecting those kids - and preventing injury to herself. 

A big, hot, blast of ki to Piccolo's face ended up being the exact remedy needed. Just as the Supreme Kai of Time had said. 

She kind of hated that that woman had been right. But now wasn't the time to dwell on it. 

Once Piccolo was back under his own control, Tenshi made to leave. 

"Hey! Mister! Thanks!" 

Tenshi turned her head to look at Trunks. He must've been about eight or so right now. 

"It's ma'am, actually," Tenshi said. 

She was about to go meet Trunks at the other time anomaly.

But Super Buu appeared right in front of her. 

It was like she was suddenly thrown into a tornado. Super Buu was the strongest opponent she had faced yet.

But she would win. 

Trunks and Goten apparently already knew the fusion technique (but her Trunks didn't--interesting). They performed the dance and became Gotenks. 

Together, Gotenks and Tenshi wailed on Majinn Buu - until the moment that he was able to fly away and escape. 

Tenshi flew after him, determined to stop him. She didn't realize it at first, but Piccolo and Gotenks followed her. 

At some point during the flight, once Majinn Buu finally came to a stop, Gotenks ended up de-fusing. 

"Oh no! What happened?" Goten whined. Tenshi didn't have time to focus on that. 

Trunks - her Trunks - flew down to her side. 

"Piccolo, I need you to distract Buu for a minute!" Trunks said. 

"Future Trunks!?" Piccolo shouted, but there was no time for explanations. 

"Ready?" Trunks asked. 

"Yeah," Tenshi said, nodding. 

The two of them did the poses for the fusion dance, then took their turn to fuse back into Trunshi. 

Together with Piccolo, Trunshi fought off Super Buu, matching blow for blow. 

"Whoa! They're so cool!" Goten said in awe. "They're totally in match with Buu!" 

"I mean, yeah, but we were fighting too," the little Trunks said. "And you heard Piccolo! That new fighter is half me, too!" 

"Yeah, but a cooler, future you." 

"I'm plenty cool!" 

In Trunshi's head, Tenshi's consciousness was giggling. 

_You were such a little shit, it's adorable._

Tenshi could sense Trunks blushing. 

_It's a different me from a different timeline! I wasn't anything like that!_

_Sure, Mr. Saiyan Prince, whatever you say._

Their conversation didn't distract them from the fight, though. 

And then an overwhelmingly strong energy level could be felt, heading right towards them. 

_What's that? Trunks_

_It's Gohan! Back from the Otherworld!_

_It - it's Daddy!?_

Trunshi looked up at Gohan arrived on the scene. 

Tenshi had never thought that her daddy could ever be that strong. It - it was so much power! 

Trunshi and Piccolo fought Super Buu alongside Gohan now, but there was a sudden energy shift as the purple aura came to engulf Super Buu. 

He suddenly transformed into a smaller, skinnier version of himself - Kid Buu, as Trunks's consciousness so helpfully supplied - and somehow this critter was even stronger. 

Trunshi was getting _really_ tired of this bullshit. 

But Trunks's consciousness was telling Tenshi that this was actually what was supposed to happen. Super Buu was supposed to revert to Kid Buu, and it was Kid Buu who was supposed to destroy the Earth, taking the fight to the Otherworld, where Goku and Vegeta were. 

When Kid Buu created the giant energy ball that would destroy the Earth, Trunshi disappeared to the Otherworld. 

Trunshi was only there to ensure that Majin Buu was defeated and that they were able to revert the Earth back to the way it was before. The way things were supposed to be. 

They fought Buu until Goku was successfully able to create the Spirit Bomb to destroy Kid Buu. 

The moment the fight was over, Trunshi went back to Toki Toki City. 

Tenshi and Trunks defused, then collapsed onto the ground. 

"Ohhhhh . . . my god," Tenshi moaned after she adjusted her face mask. "No more . . . missions. Supreme . . . Kai of Time . . . can send . . . someone else. . . . Ohhhhh my god. . . ." 

Trunks was breathing hard as well. He turned his head to look over at her. He watched as Tenshi's chest moved up and down, faster than it really should have. 

"D-don't worry.... I'll make sure she knows that.... You deserve a real break," Trunks said. 

"I'm . . . gonna . . . lay here . . . a while. . . ." 

". . . Can you not get up?" 

"Not . . . right now. . . . _Fuck_...." 

Trunks frowned, then stood up, forcing his aching body to get up. 

"I'm going to get the medic. Stay awake, okay?" 

Tenshi nodded, eyes screwed shut.


End file.
